Heart of Embers AcexReader
by Toasty-Writer
Summary: {Modern AU} Due to complications at your school and your sick Mother in hospital, you have reluctantly had to move in with your Uncle and starting into a new school in your junior year was never on your plans. Especially as your a little awkward when it comes to making friends and you tend attract trouble, but what's this? One of your new neighbours is stepping in as your protector
1. Chapter 1

You glared out the window as your destination grew ever closer, fidgeting you glance down at the silent phone on your lap,

"It won't be forever (Y/N)," an amused voice beside you chuckles. Turning to your Aunt, an annoyed pout on your face, the car pulls to a stop at a red light. The woman flicks her cig out the window before exhaling smoke and tucking a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear, she glances at you, "it's only two years,"

"I don't want to spend my junior and senior years at a new school," you scoff, "why can't I just stay in Sabaody with my friends?" well, one friend. You glance down at your phone again, Camie, your best and pretty much only friend had been texting you near enough non-stop since you left late last night, she must have finally fallen asleep however, as it has been at least five minutes since her last message,

"You'll make new friends (Y/N), plus it's not as if you won't see or hear from your friends again, you'll be visiting in a few months' time," with a huff, you turn away once more and rest your forehead against the window, thinking of home and of your Mother currently in the hospital back in Sabaody. You're distracted from your thoughts however as three boys go running past the car. Two with raven black hair and one golden blonde, the two clearly elder ones yelling annoyed at the younger who's grinning as he whoops loudly and runs faster. The car begins to move again but you keep your gaze fixed on them out of curiosity, the elder ravenette launches himself at the younger in an attempt to tackle him, but the younger raven-haired boy seems to predict his actions and simply dodges to the side. Unfortunately, this means the poor guy ends up eating dirt as he hits the ground face first and before you know it, you've snorted out a laugh which you quickly turn into a cough at your Aunts curious quirk of a brow, "you okay there?"

"Yep, fine," you snip and try to ignore the woman's amused smirk. Slipping on your headphones and quickly turning on your favourite song, you focus your eyes back out the window as your ears fill with the comforting tones of the music and you wonder to yourself, that boy, the youngest one, he looked strangely familiar.

Not that much later, you were pulling into the driveway of a decently sized two-story house. Outside stood your Uncle talking to a rather large and imposing man you can only assume is one of the neighbours, the pair of them were laughing with wide grins. Your Aunt slips out of the car expecting you to follow, not that you do, you stay put, glaring at your Uncle as she walks over to him, greeting the other man before kissing her husband's cheek and then heading inside. Your Uncles gaze turns to meet yours and he raises an eyebrow at you, grumbling to yourself at how you are determined to hate this man, who's uprooted you from your home and made you move twelve hours away, twelve! Even if he is your Uncle and you love him very much, you were going to hate him forever, or well at least until you've calmed down.

You exit the car with an angry sigh, grabbing your bag and slinging it over your shoulder as you slam the door shut and stomp off towards the house, "What, no hello? No hug?" your Uncle has the audacity to sound wounded, before you can respond though, someone yells your name and automatically you turn towards the voice. Only for a body to slam into you and send you falling backwards to the ground pretty hard, winding you in the process. Stunned for a moment, it takes a minute to process the mix of worried and irritated shouts and the fact that someone is currently wrapped around you hugging you tightly. You turn your dazed gaze to the person on top of you, you stare at the grinning boy,

"Shishishi, you're finally here!" you blink, it's the boy you saw earlier, you frown, gazing at his face, his wide grin and big innocent eyes framed by tufts of raven black hair, a fine scar visible under his left eye makes you gasp,

"Luffy?" he grins wider at you, but the grin drops instantly as a fist collides with the top of his head and he's yanked roughly off you,

"Luffy you idiot! What the hell are you doing!?" it's the other ravenette from before, you can't help but momentarily stare at him, mainly his face. His nose is grazed and his lip is bleeding but he seems to be okay after his face plant earlier, he continues reprimanding Luffy as the boy wriggles in his grasp. You quickly avert your gaze realising you're beginning to stare for longer than is polite and push yourself into sitting up,

"Ace! That hurt!" Luffy yelps,

"Yeah? Well it's the payback for before and for knocking her down!" Ace growls at him. A hand appears in front of your face, looking up you find a set of blue eyes and a kind apologetic smile framed by bright golden locks, again you find yourself staring, he's kind of cute even with the scar.

"Sorry about that, Luffy can be a little... over excited," you take his hand quickly as to avoid seeming rude for staring at his face so long, he pulls you to your feet carefully. You dust bits of grass off you as he swoops down and picks up your bag from where it landed, "I hope you're not hurt,"

"N,no it's fine," you give a small awkward smile, your Uncle and his friend are chuckling away,

"Don't worry, our (Y/N) is a tough cookie," remembering your anger with your Uncle, you glare at the silver haired man,

"Some Uncle you are, not even concerned," you scoff,

"Some (niece/nephew) you are, not even giving your favourite Uncle a hug," he responds with the same tone, mocking slightly, you scowl,

"You're my only Uncle, Rayleigh," you huff, "and you don't deserve a hug after what you've made me do," you turn back to the blonde, thanking him with as best a smile you can manage, taking your bag from him before spinning away and heading inside to sulk.

Rayleigh watches you slam the door behind you and sighs, "Don't worry too much," Newgate pats him on the back, almost making the man stumble, "she'll forgive you,"

"Hmm, true, but she will make me work for it," he chuckles in response. Luffy having finally gotten out of Ace's grip looks around disappointed,

"Where'd (Y/N) go?"

"Let her rest up for a while Luffy, she's just had a long journey. You'll have plenty of time to catch up tomorrow," Rayleigh tells him before saying farewell to Newgate and heading indoors himself.

"Come on lads, leave them to it," the three boys look to their father and nod following him next-door to their own house,

"Hey Luffy... how do you know (Y/N)?" Sabo asks curiously as both he and Ace tug him along with them, their brother grins at them,

"Pirate camp!" he then runs off inside, shouting about how he's hungry and wants meat. Sabo and Ace share a look, both voice the question now on their minds,

"Pirate camp?"


	2. Chapter 2

You had purposefully ignored your Uncle the rest of the day and would have much of the next day if it wasn't for all your stuff arriving. A family friend had offered to drive it up in his truck so at least you could have all your books and music, most importantly it meant you could bring your guitar. Your Aunt Shakky's car is only a small convertible and had barely any space so you had to leave it behind when you left. As the afternoon came, the truck pulled up outside and you headed out, "I see (Y/N) is still giving you the cold shoulder Rayleigh," the man you had known since you were little chuckles,

"For now, I'm sure she'll warm back up to me in time Hatchan," Rayleigh pats the man's arm,

"He can keep hoping that," you snip giving Hatchan a quick hug before going to the back of the van, "Camie didn't come with you? She said she might,"

"She was still fast asleep when I checked in on her, sorry (Y/N)," he gives you a sad smile,

"It's okay, she had been up all night texting me, she probably needs the sleep before school tomorrow," you shrug to hide your disappointment while opening the back of the van and looking over the boxes. The back of your neck suddenly prickles and you brace yourself. Arms wrap around you, a few times, before the impact of a body hits your back, "Hey Luffy," you chuckle,

"Shishishi, hey (Y/N), I saw you outside, where'd you go yesterday?"

"Needed to be alone is all and sleep, you going to let go?" you glance to the side at him where he's resting his chin on your shoulder, "I have to carry in my stuff," he lets go, his arms returning to normal and he grins wider,

"I'll help!" he jumps into the back of the van excitedly and picks up a box, you cringe hoping he won't drop anything as he jumps back out, everything in the box rattling, you quickly grab a box yourself and hurry after him as he marches to the front door,

"Wait Luffy you don't know where to put them!" you ignore the chuckles from your Uncle and Hatchan behind you.

With Luffy's help you get all your things into your room pretty quickly and now your sat on your bed eating a sandwich and listening to Luffy tell you stories about his brothers, "I knew you had brothers before, but I didn't realise you had four in total," you shake your head, being an only child you can only imagine what it would be like to have siblings, Luffy nods, mouth full with a big bite of his sandwich, one of many,

"Yeah back then it was just me, Ace and Sabo," he grins, "Pop's adopted us not long after the last time I saw you,"

"I'm surprised you even recognised me then," you chuckle, "That was like six years ago,"

"You've not changed that much," his innocent response comes, you raise an eyebrow, "plus Rayleigh told me you were coming to live with him, shishishi, now I can introduce you to my brothers, you'll like them,"

"Maybe," you glance down at your half-eaten sandwich and sigh. You never have been very good with meeting new people, making friends was hard for you. Back home you have one friend, Camie, and you've been friends since as far back as you can remember, then there is Luffy here, two years younger but with his bright smile and stubbornness to not leave you alone you two had become friends at pirate camp. "So, Ace and Sabo are the two who were with you yesterday right?"

"Yup, there's just Marco and Thatch for you to meet now, hey! I know! Why don't you come over now?" he stands up, picking up the rest of his sandwiches,

"I dunno Luffy, I still need to get everything put away, and there's school tomorrow," you try to excuse, he frowns briefly at you before plonking back down,

"Alright, but you gotta meet them soon. Okay?"

"Okay, I will," you sigh. He nods as if this is now a confirmed promise. You shake your head and chuckle, "You haven't changed at all have you?"

Luffy ended up staying pretty late and he was less then helpful as you tried to organise and unpack all your belongings, you lost count of how many times you had to stop him messing with your guitar. But eventually he left when one of his brothers came for him, a blonde, it wasn't the one you met yesterday, this one was older, he made you think of a pineapple, you had stayed in your room and simply waved a goodbye to Luffy. You weren't ready for new people yet; tomorrow was going to be hard enough. Flopping down on the bed you stare up at the ceiling, missing your room back home, with the ceiling you had painted as a galaxy with your mother. Tears sting your eyes and you roll onto your side pulling a large plush whale to your chest, "I don't want to be here..." you mumble depressed and soon drift off to sleep as the tears begin to flow.

...

The morning greeted you with pain, having fallen asleep with your curtains open, the early morning sun hit your tired eyes like needles. Groaning you roll out of bed checking you phone and smiling slightly at a message of good luck wishes from Camie, chucking the phone down after a quick reply of thanks, you grab random clothes for the day and head to the bathroom to get ready.

Rayleigh drives you to school, your slumped in the front seat pouting, "I know this isn't what you wanted, but it will be good for you. You needed to change schools, and your mother didn't want you being alone at the house," you understood he was right, you just didn't like it, "Maybe we can have Camie over for thanksgiving weekend?" that perks you up,

"Really?"

"Yes, as long as you keep to school and please stop sulking?" he asks,

"I'll see what I can do I suppose," you sigh and look up at the building you had pulled up to, 'Grand Line Highschool' the sign read,

"You're going to be fine, Shakky will pick you up after school alright?" he ruffles your hair getting an annoyed grunt from you as you have to fix it before pulling on a (f/c) beanie, "Have fun,"

"Uncle Rayleigh... this is school. When on earth has school ever been deemed as fun?" you groan as he just chuckles, you slide out of the car and watch as he drives off, "maybe if I make a run for it now," you mutter glancing around at the few students that were here this early, though only the crazy come to school at seven fifteen. You, sadly, have to sign in at the main office and get your schedule. "Well, might as well just get this over and done with," you grumble heading up the steps into the building.

You found the main office easily enough and the receptionist was kind. Now you stood in the hallway looking over the map she had given you along with your schedule, this was a pretty big school, much bigger than your old one, "I'm so gonna get lost," you mumble, your first order of business was finding your locker so after a moment of gaining your bearings you set off. Luckily you didn't have to search for long, finding it easily. Next problem, the lock was jammed, "Just my luck," you mutter and continue to try jimmy it free, even double checking you have the right lock combination, you were at the point of deciding to give up when an arm reaches over you, a tattooed fist bangs against the locker door and it clicks open. You blink and turn to the owner of said hand meeting a cold grey stare set in a tanned face and framed with dark hair, you gulp unconsciously tensing up, "u,um thank you..." you squeak out, he simply nods and walks off towards two other guys who were waiting for him, they tease him for helping out a girl but he ignores them. "Well that was... weird," you shake your head and quickly store away everything you don't need then check the map again and head off in the direction of homeroom. The school is getting busier now, but you still get to class while it's empty and breathe a sigh of relief as you quickly take a seat near the windows. Some minutes later someone else enters the classroom, a pretty girl with long pale blue hair, she looks around nervously and checks a sheet of paper in her hands, this piques your interest and you speak before you can even think to keep your mouth shut, "You look as lost as I feel," her dark eyes shoot up to yours and you bite your tongue cursing yourself mentally, she gives you a shy smile,

" , I just transferred..." she moves more into the room after checking her sheets again, you sit up straighter,

"You too," you mumble just loud enough that she catches it, her eyes widen a little before she smiles wider and walks closer, "I've just transferred too," you tell her, she shifts nervously on her feet,

" I sit with you?" she nods to the seat beside you, you nod and she quickly sits down, "I transferred from Red Line Academy," you raise a brow, Red Line Academy was a fancy private school generally for rich kids and the kids of celebrities, it wasn't all that far from here and you had heard they were somewhat rivals of this school in pretty much everything, "you're probably wondering why right?" you shrug,

"I'd be lying if I said no, but you probably had your reasons," you shift in your seat feeling awkward as you both go quiet before she speaks up after a few minutes as more students begin to enter the class as the bell rings,

"I didn't really fit in there," she bites her lip a little, "things weren't great," you raise a brow wondering if it was anything similar to your own situation in your old school, taking the risk you face her a little,

"I transferred from Sabaody High, the popular kids didn't really like me," you shrug, you're playing it down majorly, "incidents happened and my mother wanted to pull me out of school, but since she's in hospital I've been sent to live with my uncle," her eyes widen and she covers her mouth,

"Is your mother alright?" she sounds concerned, you blink, not used to this from anyone other than Camie really. You find yourself smiling, and you nod,

"Yeah she's okay, she's recovering from heart surgery," you tell her, "there were complications but she's stable and they are keeping her under observation,"

"It must be hard for you though," she smiles empathically, "I'm Vivi,"

"(Y/N)," you smile, wondering if you had just managed to make a friend. Moments later the homeroom teacher comes in. You both share a smile and turn to the front. Maybe it won't be all that bad, you hope so at least.


	3. Chapter 3

It turned out that Vivi shared some classes with you, so you had been able to walk together to your first two classes, but while you headed to Art she headed to Culinary, you made quick plans to meet up for lunch near your locker as it was closest to her classroom at that time. You managed to get to class early enough and took a seat away from others, sure you had miraculously made friends with Vivi but there was no guarantee you would make more. You settled yourself back in your seat, glancing round as the classroom filled up, you recognise a certain blonde neighbour as he comes in fending of a brunette while chuckling, he catches your eye and gives you a smile, you return the smile with a shy awkward one and quickly avert you gaze as the girl glances over.

"Hey you're the girl Law rescued this morning," a voice drags your eyes back up to find someone dropping into the seat beside you, you blink and tilt your head confused, briefly wondering why he's wearing sunglasses indoors,

"Law?" you question, the boy beside you grins,

"With your locker, you have the cursed one, it never opens unless you give it a good whack," he chuckles while miming the action,

"Ah, I see," cursed locker, of course you would get a cursed one, "I'll be sure to keep a note of that,"

"So, what's your name? Your new right?" he's rather talkative isn't he,

"That obvious huh?" you shake your head, of course it obvious. You doubt students transfer in all that often, he's still sat looking at you, waiting. Oh, he asked for your name, "Uh, it's (Y/N)," he grins wider,

"I'm Shachi,"

"Um, nice to meet you Shachi," you say awkwardly, inwardly cringing and wishing you were better with socialising. He doesn't seem to care though as he launches into a conversation asking how you were liking the school and where you used to go. He does most of the talking, getting in trouble a few times after being told to be quiet. You can't help but chuckle quietly as the teacher threatens detention, he grins and gives you a quick wink before quieting down.

Shachi gets held back in class at the end so you don't find out if he potentially shares your next class with you, you head out glancing down at your schedule and map, "Need any help?" jumping slightly, you look up into a set of blue eyes, "sorry I didn't mean to startle you," Sabo smiles at you apologetically, the girl beside him rolls her eyes,

"What do you expect when sneaking up on a girl?" Sabo looks at her with a frown,

"I didn't sneak up..." he denies while the girl raises a brow, he sighs and turns back to you, "Sorry (Y/N),"

"A,ah no, it's fine," you respond shyly,

"What do you have next?" he enquires glancing down at your schedule,

"Oh, um, Algebra with..." but he's already read your schedule,

"You're with us, we'll show you the way," he offers and starts walking, you hesitate a little surprised, the girl chuckles and tugs you along,

"Y,you don't have to..." you nervously respond,

"Don't worry about it," the girl smiles brightly at you, "as members of the student council, we can't leave you hanging, you obviously know Sabo," she nods to the blonde leading the way, "I'm Koala," her smile is infectious, and you find yourself smiling back with ease. The three of you arrived at the class in record time, Koala pulling you inside before taking a seat next to Sabo and scolding him for walking too fast, after a moment of awkward hesitation, you take a seat at the table in front of them.

"Maybe you're just slow Koala, hmm," he grins, she scoffs and looks to you, you tense up slightly,

"What do you think (Y/N)? We could have gotten here plenty on time without him rushing us, right?"

"Ah, well..." you don't get to finish however as someone drops into the seat beside you,

"So, I may have caused a fire," the person now occupying the seat says, you glance to the side at him feeling your heart race a little,

"Ace..." Sabo groans, "what did you do?" Ace just chuckles, he glances at you and his dark eyes widen a little,

"Did you get detention?" Koala asks him, Ace quickly looks to her and you remember you should breath,

"Nah, not exactly, I've got to go back during free period to clean up," he rubs his nose which you now notice has a band aid across it, "it was an accident like, and it wasn't my fault anyway, Kid distracted me," he shrugs,

"Of course," Sabo rolls his eyes, clearly not believing his brother, you turn to the front as the teacher comes in calling the class to order, Sabo leans forward and whispers, "you better hope they don't call Pops," out of the corner of your eye you see Ace cringe.

You couldn't focus in class. Math had never been a strong point for you, and you detested algebra with a passion. You were also finding yourself hyper aware of the person next to you and couldn't help but stealing glances at him, he had dozed off with his chin leaning against his palm. You had found Sabo cute, but being close to Ace, you couldn't help but admire him, even with the small cuts and bruises on his face, clearly a result of Saturday, there was something alluring about him, the teacher slamming a workbook on the desk has both of you jolting, you quickly direct your gaze back to you work, "Mister Portgas, am I boring you with my lesson?"

"Ah, no..." Ace responds smiling sheepishly, "but I guess you could say it doesn't exactly excite me," you bite your lip to prevent yourself from laughing as Sabo groans behind you and quiet chuckles can be heard,

"I see," the teacher hums in disapproval, "in that case, you can stay after class," the teacher turns away heading back to the front, Ace clearly is about to say something else when a ball of paper hits the back of his head, he turns to look at Sabo with a heated glare but then sighs and slumps in his seat. The bell rings shortly after and Ace turns to his brother with a small plea,

"Grab some food for me? Please?" he pouts,

"You don't deserve it," Sabo scolds making Ace sulk, the blonde brother then turns to you, "would you like to join us during lunch (Y/N)?" all three of them look to you making you feel awfully uncomfortable,

"Oh... um, thank you but I ah, I have to meet a friend at my locker..." you tell Sabo, noticing a slight frown of disappointment on Ace's face out of the corner of your eye,

"Well if you want, feel free to come sit with us in the cafeteria once you meet up with your friend," Sabo suggests,

"Ah, okay," you smile timidly as you pack your stuff into your bag,

"I guess I'll see you when I'm released from my torture," Ace sighs giving the three of you a wave as you leave. You say a quick goodbye to Sabo and Koala and hurry to your locker through the now crowded hallways. You spot Vivi hovering near your locker awkwardly as two students argue close by, she spots you and smiles relieved,

"Hey, you okay?" you ask her, she nods and glances at the two boys, a blonde with strange curly brows and a greenette with a scar over one eye, they are literally in each other's faces, she leans close and whispers in your ear,

"The blonde started to flirt with me, then the other one started making comments on his behaviour..." you raise a brow at her before reaching to open your locker. Once again struggling,

"ZORO! SANJI!" you know that voice, you glance to the side as your grinning neighbour crashes into the arguing pair, his arms wrapped around their necks and halting their heated words as they struggle not to fall,

"LUFFY!" they both growl at him,

"Shishishi," he chuckles then spots you and his grin widens, "(Y/N)!"

"Hey Luffy," you can't help but chuckle as the other two boys look at you now, Vivi hiding at your shoulder, "do you greet everyone this way?"

"Only my friends shishishi,"

"So, everyone," grumbles the greenette, the blonde has gotten free of Luffy's choke hold and is now down on one knee, hand raised to you,

"What is this beauty I see before me..."

"Don't start again ero-cook," this has the blonde back on his feet,

"What was that marimo!" you blink at the rapid change and glance at Vivi with a raised brow, she shrugs, Luffy is laughing.

"Luffy! You have to stop rushing off like that!" a girls voice yells while grabbing and stretching Luffy's face, effectively pulling the boy off the green haired guy in the process. You notice Vivi's eyes widen and you lean into her whispering,

"He's a devil fruit user," you then focus on your locker again as the arguing beside you stops and the blonde turns to the girl,

"Nami-swan!" he practically dances around her as the other guy shakes his head and looks at the pair of you, Vivi tenses up beside you as he steps forward. You find yourself leaning back a little as his scowl is a little intimidating. He reaches up and slams his fist against your locker. You face palm,

"Dang it, I forget I was supposed to do that with this cursed thing," you groan, "um, thank you ah..." you peek up at him,

"Zoro," he gives you both a slight smile, making him a little less threatening, "you're a friend of Luffy's?"

"Isn't everyone?" you find yourself saying before covering your mouth, he just chuckles,

"(Y/N) come eat lunch with us!" Luffy shouts appearing at your side,

"Ah, well I was going to eat with Vivi," you pull the equally shy girl beside you once you've stored your bag, not needing it during lunch,

"She can come too!" he grins grabbing both your hands and running off, you yelp and Vivi stumbles trying not to fall,

"Slow down you idiot!" Zoro yells running after the three of you.

By the time you get to the cafeteria, Luffy is rubbing a large bump on his head and pouting, both Nami and Sanji had hit him after he had run around a corner too fast, colliding with someone and ending up having the four of you in a pile on the floor. Thankfully no-one got hurt, Vivi found it amusing and the unfortunate soul who happened to get slammed into happened to be another one of Luffy's friends. "Honestly, he just doesn't think," Nami sighs and smiles brightly at both you and Vivi while linking arms with both of you and walking into the cafeteria,

"Did you have to hit me so hard..." Luffy sulks,

"You should learn to treat a lady respectfully," Sanji tells him, it falls of deaf ears mind, as Luffy suddenly races off yelling meat at the top of his voice,

"What happened to the other one... um Zoro?" Vivi asks quietly, you look around and find that he is no longer with the small group that's formed,

"Don't worry about Zoro," Nami sighs, "he'll turn up at some point,"

"He can get lost in a paperbag," Sanji notes, "How about you lovely ladies go find some seats, I'll go get your lunches," he then spins off before you can refuse,

"Ah..."

"Don't worry about it," Nami pulls you off looking around,

"B,but we didn't even give him any money..." Vivi says as the younger girl tugs you both along,

"It's doubtful he would take it," there other friend responds, you look to their long-nosed friend, the one Luffy had caused you to crash into, "it's just how Sanji is, I'm Usopp by the way," he smiles,

"(Y/N)," you tell him, then nod to the blue haired girl, "and this is Vivi, sorry about the crash before," he waves his hand,

"I've known Luffy long enough to expect it to happen, it's happened before and it'll happen again," he laughs, the four of you come to a stop at a table,

"Hello again (Y/N)," you turn surprised to find Sabo, "I see you must have run into Luffy," Nami has released both you and Vivi and is rapidly talking with Koala and another girl, a really pretty raven-haired girl,

"Yeah... oh, this is my friend Vivi, Vivi this is Sabo," I tug the girl at my side, she blinks and smiles at Sabo,

"Hello," she gives a little wave,

"Please sit down, I'll introduce you to everyone," you both sit down slowly and he calls attention to the rest of the table, "guys, this is our new neighbour, (Y/N) and her friend Vivi," you both wave, Vivi shyly and you just feeling really awkward with the attention, Sabo points each one out and tells you their names and years, "You know Usopp and Nami, then there's Chopper, they're freshmen with Luffy, then there is Robin and Franky, they are seniors," everyone gives you a smile, Nami leans forward and looks at you,

"Zoro and Sanji are sophomores," your surprised this group of friends expands all four years of high school which you honestly find rather amazing, but then again, this is Luffy's group of friends. Speaking of Luffy, he drops into the seat beside you, mouth already full with ham,

"Where's Ace?" he asks after swallowing,

"Had to stay behind in class," Sabo tells him as Sanji dances around the table placing food in front of you, Vivi and Nami,

"Thanks, Sanji," Nami gives him a bright smile,

"Anything for you Nami-swan, and you two lovely ladies," he then kneels near Robin, "Next time I will bring you something delicious too Robin-chan."

The table is lively and you find yourself relaxing despite not being used to being around so many people at once, Camie is never going to believe this. Vivi quickly becomes talkative with the others while you're happy to sit quietly and eat, responding to a few questions from Luffy from time to time. Zoro never did turn up, and as the bell went you wondered if Ace ever managed to get any lunch too.


	4. Chapter 4

Physical Education wasn't too bad you decided, you found out Vivi was pretty good at tennis, you weren't terrible but you just didn't get it. You ended up watching Vivi and Koala go all out against each other which was entertaining. After that you had a free period, the others had gone off to the library while you had to go fill in some paperwork at the office. Now you were rushing to your final class for the day, having gotten lost and now you were running late, "what an impression you're making," you scoff to yourself, finally finding the right stairway at last and hurrying towards it. Taking the first few steps you look up to see someone near the top swaying slightly before they suddenly fall backwards. With a startled yelp you dash up the steps three at a time, catching them as they fall, you grunt and have to take one step down as you take their sudden weight, their head lands against your shoulder causing you to wince slightly but any discomfort flees your mind as you quickly realise who you've caught. Your mind goes blank and you feel your face heat up as you gaze at the freckled face. This close you could practically count each freckle. You suck in a breath as his eyes flicker open, those charcoal black orbs darting to meet your (e/c) eyes, he blinks confused for a moment before a rush of red flows across his cheeks and he unsteadily stands up, "Um..." you both avoid gazes for a moment,

"Y,you ah, were falling backwards..." you mumble and bite your lip peeking up at him, he cringes,

"Damn it," he shakes his head, "you caught me? I didn't hurt you, did I?" he reaches out a hand to you but then quickly pulls it back. Shaking your head,

"No, I'm fine, but are you okay... you could have..." you both glance down the stairs,

"Yeah... that could have been really bad..." he frowns and rubs his face, "thanks for the catch," a sheepish smile flows across his face,

"Oh, it's no problem," you wave trying to dispel the nervousness, "I was just on my way to class and saw y... oh crap class!"

"What do you have now?" he asks as you both begin moving up the final few steps,

"Science..." you pull out your crumpled schedule, "in lab three," he suddenly grabs your hand and pulls you into a sprint,

"Don't worry then, I'll explain why we're late," he grins at you, your hearts pounding as you try to keep up with him, your eyes glancing down to your joined hands causing heat to rise to your face again. You get to the classroom and pause, both catching your breath and he lets go of your hand as he pushes into the classroom.

"Your late," the disapproving tones of your teacher reach your ears and you look up,

"Sorry sir," Ace rubs the back of his neck, "I had an episode, (Y/N) kindly helped me out," he gives you a quick smile,

"Is that so," the teacher looks thoughtful, "do you need to go to the nurse's office?"

"No, I'm good,"

"Alright then, both of you take your seats," the teacher then turns back to the rest of the class and Ace tugs you along to an empty desk behind Sabo and Vivi. Sabo takes a chance to turn around once the teacher has left us to our assigned work, giving Ace a look over,

"I'm fine," Ace tells him noticing the look,

"Hmm," the blonde brother frowns but drops it. Vivi raises a brow at you and you shrug slightly before focusing on your work, or at least trying. Having Ace next to you is highly distracting.

At the end of class Sabo pulled Ace to the side as you all walked out and clearly started grilling him for details, Vivi hooks her arm with yours, "So what was all that about?" she asks,

"Oh, nothing really, I just helped Ace out..." you weren't exactly sure how to explain really,

"Uhu... so why were you blushing?" she grins as you gasp and look at her,

"I was not!" you hiss glancing back to make sure the boys haven't heard her, but they are out of sight now, Vivi giggles,

"You definitely were and I want details. But you can tell me later, I'm going to check out the tennis club and see if I can join, you want to come?"

"Ah, nah. I'll leave you to your sports," you chuckle,

"Alright then, can we exchange numbers? Then we can talk later," she grins and wriggles her eyebrows. You shake your head but smile while pulling your phone out. You quickly save her number and you send a quick message, "great, I'll message you later!" she then runs off. You head to your locker, a smile on your face as you stared at your phone, with Vivi's number now saved that brought your contact count up to five. The other four being your mother, Rayleigh, Shakky and Camie, almost to your locker to grab your things someone calls out your name. You slow and glance behind you to find Ace running up to you, he slows to a walk upon getting to you and takes a couple of breaths,

"Do you have any plans for after school?" he asks,

"Um, no...?" you frown,

"Do you like milkshakes?" he readjusts his bag on his shoulder,

"I guess..." you wonder where this is going as you pause at your locker,

"I want to say thanks properly, for before," he grins, "So I was thinking I could get you a milkshake, but not just any milkshake, the best milkshake known to man," you smile amused at how goofy he sounds and try to open your locker, obviously once again you have forgotten this thing is cursed. Without blinking an eye Ace gives it a thump and it opens,

"Does everyone know this locker is cursed?" you question, he chuckles,

"Pretty much, you might be able to get it changed," he shrugs,

"Eh... I'll deal with it somehow," you mutter, not really wanting to cause a fuss over the issue. You quickly grab your books and put them away in your bag,

"So, what do you say?" you blink up at him, momentarily confused, "About going getting that milkshake?"

"N,now?" you stutter,

"Yeah? If that's alright with you? I won't be free again till Saturday, practice starts back up tomorrow," he shrugs,

"Um, well my Aunt Shakky is supposed to be picking me up..." you respond slowly, he grins and grabs your hand pulling you with him,

"Then let's ask her, I'm sure she won't mind," he says confidently, your refusals dying on your tongue before you can voice them as he gives you another bright smile.

Turned out, your Aunt Shakky was fine with it. She gave you a bright teasing smile and told you both to enjoy yourselves before driving off. Ace then started leading the way. You felt awkward walking beside Ace at first, especially when people watched you, but as you got further away from school you relaxed more, "You don't like crowded places do you?" Ace observes,

"Ah, well it's not that exactly..." although he is kind of right, you don't do well in crowds, "I just don't like being stared at I guess," you shrug, he nods,

"I can understand that, things will calm down though. It's because you're new here is all,"

"Maybe," you frown a little, you can only wish it was that, you've always drawn unwanted attention to yourself, it's not like you try. It just happens,

"If anyone gives you problems though, just come to us, we'll handle it," you raise your brow slightly at him,

"Thanks, but I can fight my own battles should I have to,"

"Yeah but you don't have to," he points out as he stops, "here we are, best place to get milkshakes in town, and as a bonus, we get discount," he chuckles, you glance up at the diner you had stopped in front of,

"Double Dans Diner..." you read and glance at him,

"Yup, it's owned by a married couple, both called Dan," he pulls the door and holds it open for you. You gaze around in wonder at the décor as you step inside,

"Woah..." the whole place was decked out like a retro eighty's diner, jukebox included in the corner,

"Cool huh," Ace tugs you along to a booth while waving to a man behind the counter, "they really like the eighty's theme,"

"It's amazing," you find yourself grinning as you sit down, Ace holds out a menu to you,

"Pick any milkshake you want," you gently take the menu, "do you wanna grab anything to eat while we are here? My treat, I'm starving," his eyes roam over his own menu,

"Y,you don't have to..."

"Considering I could have been at the bottom of those stairs with a broken neck, I don't think this is enough," he says seriously for a moment before giving you a gentle smile, "it's fine, let me treat you, otherwise I'll be doing a whole bunch of stuff to show how thankful I am, and you might just get fed up with me and wish you'd let me fall," he chuckles,

"I'd never wish that..." you suddenly flush red and hide your face with the menu, focusing on the list of items, "O,on anyone that is..." he snickers softly. He goes and makes your order at the counter, getting teased for bringing a girl, he comes back a little red faced making you giggle. He smiles embarrassed and sits back down,

"The owners are practically like family, we come here a lot. My eldest brother also works here," he tells you,

"It must be crazy having so many brothers," you comment, he shrugs,

"They can be hell sometimes, we torment each other," he laughs, "but we also have each other's back when it comes down to it,"

"That must be nice," you hum and glance out the window, "it's always just been me and mother back home, so it's pretty quiet," he leans his chin on his palm watching you,

"You come from Sabaody right?" he questions bringing your gaze back to him, you nod in response, "no offence, because you're one of the nicest people I've met, but everyone else I've met from Sabaody are assholes, they play dirty too," you frown confused, though you won't deny that some people back home are not exactly nice or even friendly for that matter, "Football," a silent oh goes through your mind, "we played against them in the final there last year,"

"You were there?" you sit up,

"Yeah, I'm one on our team's quarterbacks, you went too?" he grins,

"Yeah... I don't usually watch football; I don't really understand all the rules but my best friend Camie loves the sport and made me go to at least the final with her," you find yourself rubbing your shoulder remembering that night,

"Then in a way, we've already met," he shifts as your milkshakes are placed in front of you, "kind of at least,"

"I suppose one could see it that way," you take a sip of your (f/f) milkshake and your eyes widen, "Wow,"

"I know right, told you, The, Best, Milkshake," he drinks some of his own and sighs making you giggle, "so did you enjoy the game at least?"

"Well, it was entertaining," you shrug, "your right mind, my school has always played dirty. But you guys still managed to win," he pouts at you,

"Nah ah, you're one of us now, one of The Pirates," he informs you, "And yes, we beat their asses into the dirt," warmth spreads across your chest, one of them, it was a nice feeling. You wonder how long it will last. Your food soon came and you were surprised by how much he had ordered for himself, but from the reactions of the staff, this was normal. You found it easier and easier to talk to him as you spent more time with him. Though it may have been to do with the fact there was just the two of you. Groups unnerved you. As you take another sip of your drink a loud thud has you jumping startled and you choke on the milkshake for a brief moment before laying eyes on Ace. Panic rushes over you as you look at him, his face in his plate of food, hands holding a burger still held up in the air,

"A,ace..." your eyes widen and you hope to god he isn't dead, you reach over and nudge his head slightly, "Ace..."

"Don't worry, this is normal," a voice beside you chuckles, you look up worry clearly evident on your face and find a tall brunette wearing an apron, "Ace has narcolepsy,"

"Oh..." you glance at Ace and notice a soft snore come from him, that explains the incident earlier, and the fact he called it an episode, "does this happen a lot?" you ask,

"From time to time yes, if he lets himself get too stressed out it happens more often," he sighs and looks at the boy, "ACE!" he yells making you jump for a second time, Ace snaps his head up,

"W,what?!" he continues to eat as if nothing happened, you cover your mouth trying not to giggle as a fry that had gotten stuck to his chin drops,

"You scared your girlfriend half to death, you're supposed to tell people about your narcolepsy," the man admonishes, both you and Ace turn red, Ace choking on a bite of his burger,

"She's not my girlfriend Thatch!" he takes a quick drink, "This is (Y/N), from next door,"

"Ooooh," Thatch turns to you with a bright smile which turns teasing as he glances at Ace again, "Jeez Ace, the girl just moved in and your already making moves on her," he clucks his tongue, Ace turns even brighter red,

"What! No!" Ace yelps, you start slip down the seat slightly, kind of wishing to disappear,

"Ah, denial," Thatch says, "I'll have to talk to Marco about this,"

"Don't you dare!" Ace growls jumping up out of his seat and trying to swipe at the man, Thatch easily pushes him away and turns to you,

"If this brute causes you any trouble dear, you come tell me, I'll be sure to put my little brother in place," Thatch chuckles. After a few more exchanged words, heated ones from Ace as Thatch continues to tease him, the elder brother heads back into the kitchen and Ace sits down. You're both still blushing slightly as you sit in silence. The silence getting more awkward by the second, you clear your throat,

"So, um... narcolepsy..." you glance up at him making eye contact for a brief moment, he rubs the back of his neck,

"Ah, yeah. I've had it since I was little. Sorry I should have told you, it's just pretty much everyone knows so..."

"No, no it's okay," you wave your hands in front of you pausing him, "you don't need to apologise. It's perfectly normal, I mean I should have asked earlier after the incident on the stairs," he gives you a crooked smile that makes your heart race, you gulp a little,

"Does it not freak you out?" he asks,

"It's a medical condition you don't have much control over," you shrug, "why would it freak me out? I mean, I was scared for a moment when you face planted your food," you giggle a little making him blush again, "But I'd never judge you for it." That brings a wider smile to his face and you feel happy that you brought that about.

A body drops into the booth beside you making you jump a little, "Shishishi, you're jumpy (Y/N)," you give Luffy a small scowl and a shove,

"Announce your presence first," you pout only getting a grin in return, Ace wipes his face with a napkin and looks to Zoro who takes a seat beside him,

"How'd try-outs go?" Ace asks him, you slap Luffy's hand as he tries to steal your fries,

"Danny! MEAT!" Luffy yells over to the guy at the counter, you face palm at his loudness, Zoro and Ace don't even react,

"Coach was impressed, so he got in. We might actually win some games this year if the coach decides to put him on the court. No one will expect his energy," Zoro chuckles, you look confused between them all, Ace notices,

"Zoro is on the basketball team, Luffy went to try-outs," he informs you,

"Oh," you subconsciously slap Luffy's hand again, "you think he'll play in games even as a freshman?" you snap your gaze to Luffy, "Try that one more time and it's my fork coming down on your hand next, wait for your own," he pouts at you as both Ace and Zoro laugh. Food is brought out for both newcomers as the conversation flows. Ace falls asleep at least twice more and loses some of his food to Luffy in the process. Christ this boy can eat. The next hour or so are filled with chatter and laughter before you all head home, Luffy causing both you and Ace to have to run after him.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Seems I had an issue and it posted the wrong chapter :/ **

Over the next few days you settled into life at Grand Line Highschool, you still felt awkward when in a large group but Vivi was always willing to wander off with you during lunch if it got too much for you. You spoke to Camie every night, things had settled down at your old school, luckily, she did have other friends and not just you so you are happy she isn't alone and is doing good. You had introduced her to Vivi via messenger app and the two of them hit it off instantly, teaming up against you and teasing you constantly for your awkwardness. You still gave your uncle the cold shoulder but you were starting to think that you should forgive him now. It was Friday morning as you rushed to get ready, having overslept, you were hopping down the stairs while trying to jimmy your foot into your shoe and tame your (h/l) (h/c) hair into something that could at least pass off as decent. A set of keys is dangled in front of your face once you have landed at the bottom, you pause, balancing on one foot and look at your uncle who jingles the keys, "So since Shakky and I are going to be more busy with work now you've settled, I was thinking you could drive yourself to school, I already ran it by your mother, you have your license and it's a waste if you're not going to use it," he smiles at you, you had gotten your license as soon as you could, not that you needed to drive back in Sabaody, the way to travel around back home was rather unique to the region.

"Whose car am I driving?" you ask slowly, hoping it isn't your aunts, because you would be scared you would damage the small convertible,

"Your own. It's nothing special, but it will get you from a to b and it's been checked and serviced,"

"You got me a car?" your eyes widen as he nods, squealing you throw yourself at him hugging him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" you then swipe the keys out of his hand and rush to the door,

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" he calls after you,

"My forgiveness can't be bought Uncle!" you shout back, "But since I love you," you grin as he laughs and you jump into the little (f/c) car, you do a few checks and take a deep breath before starting it up and pulling out. Five minutes into your drive to school you spot a familiar trio of brothers. The two elder ones dragging the youngest along with them, you pull up beside them and honk your horn. They look up startled as you wind the window down chuckling, "you guys want a lift? If I'm running late, you three definitely are,"

"SHOTGUN!" Luffy shouts with a sudden burst of energy and leaves his brothers scowling,

"Oh, now you have the energy!" Ace scoffs,

"I didn't know you could drive (Y/N)," Sabo notes as Luffy jumps into the front passenger seat,

"Yeah, I learnt as soon as I could, but never had a car until now, my Uncle gave me the keys this morning," you smile at the older two as they slip into the back,

"Does that mean we can ride with you every day!" Luffy bounces excitedly,

"Luffy that's rude," Sabo admonishes,

"Oh, I don't mind, I'd feel more secure if others were in the car with me, as long as you're willing to take the risk with my driving," you chuckle,

"Are you sure?" Sabo insists,

"Yes, I'm sure," you look at Luffy, "put your seat belt on Luffy,"

"But..." Sabo begins,

"She said it's fine, chill out," Ace snickers. They start bickering but you just chuckle and drive off to school.

You drop down into your seat beside Vivi with a grin, "Someone's happy, ooh, let me guess," she turns to face you fully, "you saw Ace this morning," she wiggles her eyebrows,

"That is not why I'm in a good mood, but, not untrue, I saw all three brothers," you give her a playful shove, she's been teasing you about having a crush on the raven haired boy, it's completely untrue, "my uncle got me a car,"

"Really?" she grins, "does that mean we can go for long drives on the weekend," she mimes driving making you giggle,

"Sure, if you pay for gas," you snicker at her pout, "I offered to give the boys a lift to school in the mornings,"

"Ooh, did you now," she smirks, you roll your eyes,

"We live next door to one another, I might as well since I'm passing them every day,"

"I'm sure that's the only reason," she teases causing you to sigh,

"Seriously, between you and Camie, I'm gonna end up with a complex,"

"Not my fault you've got a thing for the boy next door," she sticks her tongue out. The pair of you eventually move the conversation on to what your plans are for the weekend, Vivi was going out of town to see family whereas you currently only had plans to practice your guitar since it's been sat untouched all week.

The day was going pretty quickly and before you knew it, it was lunch time. You and Vivi had quickly made the decision to just head straight to the cafeteria and meet there, avoiding Sanji so you could buy your own lunch. His gesture was sweet but it made you both feel guilty, of course Nami just let him buy her lunch every day. You frown as you walk towards the table with your tray of lunch shortly followed by Ace, Vivi is throwing you a look that screams 'help me!' "Is she okay?" Ace leans close and mutters in your ear, you glance to the side at him reminding yourself to breathe,

"I don't know but I bet I'm about to find out," you shrug and he gives you a smile and chuckle. You both make it to the table and Vivi grabs your arm, before you can ask what's wrong Nami leans around her,

"(Y/N) are you going to the homecoming dance?" she looks at you expectantly, you glance at Vivi before looking back to the red-head and answer simply,

"No," she actually looks offended by the idea of you saying no,

"Why not!" she half leans over Vivi now, "It's homecoming!"

"It's also not until next month Nami," you point out and try to begin eating your lunch, her hand reaches out and stops you, Vivi is literally leaning back as far as she can now,

"But it's homecoming," she insists,

"Nami, don't pressure the poor girls," Robin chuckles from across the table beside Ace who's in front of you, "maybe they don't want to attend because they have no one to go with," she shrugs, you blink at the dark haired beauty before feeling Nami's hand grip your wrist, the red-head looking between you and Vivi,

"Is that the reason?" with a sigh you look at her,

"Definitely not. I just don't like those kinds of things, I don't do well in crowds," you huff a little embarrassed and gently tug your hand free of her devils grip, "and before you pester her, Vivi is the same," you stare at her pointedly before turning to your food, all's quiet for a moment as you begin to eat, Sabo and Koala join the table shortly followed by Luffy and the others,

"So, what if someone asked you to go with them?" Nami asks, with a sigh of exasperation you turn back to her and raise a brow, "what? Someone might ask you, (Y/N) you're good looking, and you're fun to be around,"

"I am...?" you give her a disbelieving look and she puffs out her cheeks,

"Yes, Luffy!" The boy looks to her, "Tell (Y/N) they're pretty and fun to be around," Luffy opens his mouth to do just that but you raise a hand to make him pause,

"Nami, you can't just tell someone to say that, especially Luffy, he's too kind," you tell her,

"She has a point there Nami," Koala pitches in, you feel like screaming thank you, until she throws you a teasing smile, "You should ask the rest of the boys," Sabo beside her slowly looks at her in disbelief, as if this wasn't his best friend right now, Ace has frozen mid bite of his food and the rest of the table goes very quiet as Nami grins wide,

"How right you are Koala," she says slowly, she's the devil, the devil incarnate. You're about ready to bolt, "so, boys," she looks around the table, "anyone care to give your opinion, not you Sanji, we all know what you will say," this causes the silence to break a little as chuckles rise from Luffy, Robin and Franky, but Nami is still waiting, smiling like a cat and tapping her nails on the table,

"Oh, would you look at that, I forgot I was supposed to clean my locker," Usopp bolts, smart, you would do the same if it wasn't for her gaze being fixed on you. Then, like a life line being thrown to you, someone calls your name. You look around and see Shachi waving you over, and you bolt, leaving the table and rushing to his side,

"You okay...?" he asks glancing at your table as you reach him, you glance back finding everyone watching you, you send a silent apology to Vivi before turning back to the boy, noticing his two friends with him, one you know by the name of Law, the boy who helped open your locker on the first day,

"Yup, you just saved me from possibly a world of embarrassment," you smile awkwardly and say a rather quiet squeaked out hello to the other two. Law just nods and looks away giving of a cold air, the other smiles wide at you, you blink at him for a moment, his hat near enough covers his eyes to the point the shadow caused by it hides them completely. What a strange trio,

"Then I'm glad to be of service," Shachi grins, you turn back to him with a thankful smile, "I actually wanted to ask you something,"

"Oh?" You raise a brow, the recent conversation of homecoming flooding your mind, you shake the thoughts away, "Shoot,"

"How good are you with dogs?" he asks, you pause, not having expected that,

"Well, I guess I'm okay with them. I've never had one myself but I've looked after a few," you shrug, "I used to do dog walking during the summer back home,"

"See, I knew you'd be the one to ask," he grins and looks to Law, you follow his gaze to the tall tanned boy who's now frowning at Shachi, "The three of us are going checking out a university this weekend,"

"Already?" you frown,

"Yeah, we're all planning to go into the medical field, and Law likes to have everything planned out years ahead,"

"Shachi-ya..." Law grumbles, you blink, wow his voice is deep, his steel grey eyes flick to meet yours and you feel yourself being sized up,

"What Law is doing here is silently trying to transmit to you the request for you to look after his dog," Shachi whispers not so quietly cause you to giggle as Law looks at his friend disapprovingly,

"How long for?" you ask causing those cold eyes to return to you, for a moment you don't think he will say anything but he finally responds,

"From six am Saturday morning to six pm that evening, I can't ask you to have him overnight,"

"But it would work better for you if I did?" you guess, he frowns a little,

"Well yes. But that would be putting you out..." you hold up a finger to pause him and pull your phone out, the other two look towards Law and smirk a little, he scowls. You tap away a message to your uncle, he responds pretty quickly, looking back up to the three,

"I can take him overnight," you inform, Law stares at you for a few moments,

"You're sure?" you nod,

"Course, I'll need your address so I can pick him up," you tell him, he takes your phone right out of your grasp and inputs something before handing it back to you,

"I've added my contact, I'll send you the address," he nods, "how much,"

"Huh?" you tilt your head confused,

"For dog sitting," he sighs,

"Oh, no, it's fine, let's just say you owe me a favour," you smile, he seems to think about this for a moment before nodding,

"Awe, Law's not even your friend and he's got your number," Shachi pouts and gives you what you can only describe as puppy dog eyes, "we're friends and I don't,"

"Could you act any more desperate Shachi," the one with the hidden eyes laughs,

"You want my number?" you ask Shachi surprised,

"Yes," he grins and his phone is in his hand in record time making you laugh and shrug,

"Alright then," you quickly exchange numbers before their friend also requests it just as the bell goes, "you'll have to get it off one of those two," you find yourself smiling, you give a wave and hurry off to your locker finding that whole interaction really strange.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - I had an issue with the last chapter, it was showing the wrong chapter for me so if you saw this chapter as the last one, please go back and read it again, correct one is now up! **

**Ace **

Ace woke to pounding on his bedroom door, "Get up yoi!" Marco's voice shouts through, with a groan he rolls off the bed and rubs his eyes before glancing at his phone, cursing under his breath at the time and quickly grabbing clothes before rushing to get them on. Upon getting downstairs he finds Marco shoving food at a half asleep Luffy in an attempt to wake him, while Sabo is putting on his shoes on, "Bout time you got up yoi," Marco shakes his head, rubbing his face and yawning Ace grabs his bag,

"Where's Thatch?"

"Had to head to the diner early, Dan's fallen ill so he's taking over morning shift," with Sabo's help they shove Luffy's arms into his jacket, "you better get running, your seriously late yoi,"

"Come on Luffy wake up already," Sabo shakes the boy, Ace shakes his head and hooks his arm under his little brother's arm,

"Grab his other side, we'll see ya later Marco," he then proceeds to drag a grumbling Luffy out the house, "come on Luffy, you need to wake up,"

"Don't wanna," Luffy seems to slump even more in their grip, Ace shares an annoyed look with Sabo but they both struggle on with hopes the brat would wake up before getting to school. The sharp shrill of a car horn has them jolting in shock and looking to the road where a car pulls up, the window scrolls down and (Y/N) peeks out at them. Ace blinks, her (h/l) hair was slightly ruffled with strands sticking out at random points, he found it rather cute,

"You guys want a lift? If I'm running late, you three definitely are," the moment she says that Luffy jumps up with a burst of energy,

"SHOTGUN!" he yells diving for the front passenger seat,

"Oh, now you have the energy," Ace scowls heading around the other side,

"I didn't know you could drive (Y/N)," Sabo queries,

"Yeah, I learnt as soon as I could, but never had a car until now, my Uncle gave me the keys this morning," she smiles at the two older brothers as they climb in the back,

"Does that mean we can ride with you every day!" Luffy bounces in his seat grinning,

"Luffy that's rude," Sabo scolds,

"Oh, I don't mind, I'd feel more secure if others were in the car with me, as long as you're willing to take the risk with my driving," she chuckles, Ace smiles at the sound of it,

"Are you sure?" Sabo insists,

"Yes, I'm sure," she sounds amused, "put your seat belt on Luffy,"

"But..." Sabo starts, Ace places a hand on his arm,

"She said it's fine, chill out," he snickers getting a disapproving frown,

"But it's putting her out,"

"She would say no if it was, don't get so wound up about it," Ace waves off Sabo's concern on the subject, sadly for him it doesn't mean Sabo stops. Which means Sabo is still lecturing him as they drop into their seats in homeroom, Koala looks at the two boys surprised,

"I'm pretty sure you told me you would be late...?" she directs at Sabo,

"We were," he sighs,

"(Y/N) gave us a lift," Ace tells her,

"Oh?" she raises a brow then smiles, "I bet that was nice for you, pretty thing like (Y/N) coming to your rescue,"

"I wouldn't exactly call it that," Ace frowns,

"Are you saying (Y/N)'s not pretty?" she leans forwards and smiles knowingly at Ace,

"I wasn't saying that either," he scowls,

"So, you're saying they are pretty?" Sabo watches his best friend, wondering what she's up to,

"Well of course they are..." Ace immediately shuts up, a blush spreading across his cheeks, he glares at Koala before turning away from her. Koala giggles and looks at Sabo,

"What?" she asks, "Did you want me to ask you too?" she grins,

"Nope, that's fine," he pulls out a notebook from his pocket and goes through some notes for the school council meeting that would be happening later and trying to ignore her chuckles.

Ace had to deal with similar questions from Koala during the next two classes and was thankful when he dropped into his seat in his culinary class, although it would have been better if it was like a Tuesday or Thursday, then it would mean spending music class with (Y/N). He sighs and rests his head on the table, "Rough day already?" he glances to the side as Vivi slips onto the seat next to him,

"I think Koala should have been a journalist for the student paper," he grumbles and gives her a small smile, "I don't know why but she's been firing questions at me all morning," the blue haired girl just gives him a small smile. The class begins and Vivi gives him the job of peeling vegetables. After Monday he hadn't been allowed near the stoves.

"Can I ask you a question?" she enquires, receiving a slightly annoyed pout from him, "It's just one question, I promise," she giggles,

"Fine," he sighs, "ask away," he knew he would probably regret this and that somehow Koala had teamed up with the shy girl,

"Do you like (Y/N)?" her question has him slipping with the knife, he blinks and looks up at her, her gaze is on his hand, quickly looking around to make sure no-one else saw and he drops the now burnt carrot into the trash bag,

"Logia devil fruit," he mutters with a shrug and wiggling his fingers to show he didn't cut himself even if it looked that way,

"Oh..." she looks surprised a little but then focuses back on her task, "So, do you like them?" he picks up another carrot,

"Sure, they are funny and sweet and they don't think I'm a freak for my narcolepsy, but you're not asking if I like her in a general sense, you're asking if I like them more than friend, right?" he raises a brow at the girl who gives him a sheepish smile, "my answer to that is I don't know, I've only known her a week," he shrugs, "so I can't make that decision,"

"Alright, I can accept that answer," she smiles brightly,

"At least you didn't ask weird questions like Koala," he sighs making the girl chuckle.

The next class was tense. He couldn't relax as (Y/N) sat next to him and Koala was behind, he kept catching a small sly grin on the brunette's face. He was relieved when the bell went for lunch. After making the rounds to each of their lockers they headed into the cafeteria. Looking around he noted only Nami, Robin, Franky and Vivi were at their usual table. He stuck with (Y/N) as they got their food and together made their way towards the table. A frown appears on his face as Vivi looks over at them, the girl sending pleading eyes their way. He leans closer to (Y/N) and whispers, "Is she okay?" her (e/c) eyes slide to meet his and he could have sworn a faint blush rose across her cheeks, but when he blinks it's gone,

"I don't know but I bet I'm about to find out," she shrugs, he gives her a smile as he chuckles. They then both make it over to the table. Ace drops down opposite (Y/N) as Vivi grabs her arm, Nami immediately leans around the bluenette,

"(Y/N) are you going to the homecoming dance?" Nami awaits an answer and Ace can't help but be curious himself,

"No," the simple answer surprises him, though probably not as much as it does Nami as the girl leans over Vivi now,

"Why not? It's homecoming!" she emphasises,

"It's also not until next month," she raises her sandwich up to take a bite only to be stopped by the red-head, Ace feels a moment of concern to Vivi who looks like she could fall backwards of her stool at any point now,

"But it's homecoming," Nami insists, as if repeating it will make a difference, Ace bites into his own sandwich,

"Nami, don't pressure the poor girls," Robin beside him chuckles, "maybe they don't want to attend because they have no one to go with," she shrugs, Ace finds himself frowning, wondering if this is true, he watches as Nami thinks this over while looking between the two girls beside her,

"Is that the reason?" she asks, Ace glances at (Y/N) as she sighs and looks at Nami,

"Definitely not. I just don't like those kinds of things, I don't do well in crowds," she huffs while her cheeks turn a little rosy, "and before you pester her, Vivi is the same," she stares hard at Nami for a moment, Vivi looks thankfully at her as everything goes quiet and they all begin to eat. The rest of the group slowly joins the table before Nami perks up once again,

"So, what if someone asked you to go with them?" a sigh rumbles out of (Y/N) as she looks at the red-head as if the girl was crazy, "What? Someone might ask you, (Y/N) you're good looking, and you're fun to be around," she has a point, swallowing his food becomes a little harder,

"I am...?" (Y/N) sounds unconvinced,

"Yes, Luffy!" Nami shouts gaining the boys attention, "Tell (Y/N) they're pretty and fun to be around," Ace watches as Luffy is about to do exactly as Nami tells him, only to be stopped by (Y/N)'s raised hand,

"Nami, you can't just tell someone to say that, especially Luffy, he's too kind," out of the corner of his eye as he takes another bite, he catches Koala's eyes sparkle and she leans in,

"She has a point there Nami," the brunette flashes a teasing smile at (Y/N) and Ace is pretty sure she feels the same dread he does, "you should ask the rest of the boys," evil, she's definitely evil. Ace finds himself freezing, unable to continue his bite into the sandwich, Sabo looks at his best friend in what's almost betrayal. The whole table has gone quiet as Nami's grin grows.

"How right you are Koala," she says slowly, "so, boys," she looks around the table, "anyone care to give your opinion, not you Sanji, we all know what you will say," this brings out a spatter of laughter from Luffy, Robin and Franky, but Nami is still waiting on a response, smiling and tapping those long nails of hers on the table,

"Oh, would you look at that, I forgot I was supposed to clean my locker," Usopp bolts, Ace inwardly scowls at the coward and forces himself to swallow his bite.

"(Y/N)!" everyone looks across the room as someone shouts her to find Shachi waving for her attention, a second later she shoots off her stool like a rocket and over to him. Ace scowls. She glances briefly back before turning to the three friends and talking with them.

"I didn't know she was friends with them," Nami notes, Ace nods slightly, he was unaware too,

"She sits beside Shachi in art, they seem to get along really well," Koala informs the group as she glances at Ace, he narrows his eyes at her, "I wonder if he'll ask her,"

"You think he likes her," Nami eyes (Y/N) as she talks with the trio of friends,

"I wouldn't be surprised, she is a pretty girl after all, don't you agree Ace?" Koala asks innocently, Nami picks up on the suggestion instantly,

"Ooooh, Acey boy, do you like (Y/N)?" Nami grins, even Sabo looks at him questioningly,

"You know, I've answered this question once already today," Ace says standing up, "I'm not doing it again," he takes his tray and walks off to get rid of the rubbish, his eyes on (Y/N) though as it seems she's exchanging numbers with the boys. He frowns and leaves the cafeteria as the bell rings.


	7. Chapter 7

You were still smiling as you got to your locker, even if two rather tall imposing figures were by it. One with vivid red hair the other with long blonde locks, his bangs covering his eyes, "They still won't respond to my messages," the red-head scowls slamming his locker shut and turning to the blonde, you slip up beside them trying to remain unseen as you put in your lock combination,

"What do you expect considering how you both went at each other's throats like that," the blonde shakes his head, they both glance at you as you try to open your locker, a small groan escaping you as you've forgotten once again. You blame it on the fact that usually someone's with you and they keep assisting, the red-head snorts beside you and you feel a twitch of annoyance and glare up at him, your (e/c) eyes meeting his reddish orange ones, you briefly take note of the dark eyeliner around them, a smirk spreads across his dark lips and he leans down a little, "having trouble there little mouse?"

"Kid..." the other sighs, you were sure you had heard that name before,

"If I'm a little mouse," you scowl at him, "does that make you the elephant, because the mouse won that battle," of course this confuses him, you probably shouldn't expect him to know the fable, "mice are cunning, don't underestimate them," you add and turn back to your locker, he hums a little before chuckling and causing his friend to look at him surprised,

"You're amusing little mouse," he chuckles more making your scowl deepen, he then thumps your locker door opening it and smirking down at you,

"You know," you growl a little, "if someone would show me how to actually do that correctly rather than just doing it for me," you had tried once, hurt your hand and made Ace laugh, much to your embarrassment. Kid grabs your hand and makes you form a fist,

"You want to make sure you hit the door with this part," he points to the side of your now clenched fist, "then give a hard jab to the door, beside the lock mechanism," he directs your hand slowly to where to hit, "might take a couple of tries before you get the hang of it," you raise a brow at him as he lets go,

"Thank you?" you are as confused by his sudden change of attitude as is his friend it seems,

"You feeling okay Kid?"

"I'm fine Killer," you blink as you shoulder your bag, his name was Killer? "Sometimes you gotta help the little people out," he smirks ruffling your hair,

"Hey," you slap his hand away and fix your hair, "anyone's small compared to a giant like you," you scoff and slam your locker shut, this just makes Kid laugh,

"I like this one, feisty," he grins before walking away, "see you around little mouse," his friend offers you a small smile before moving to quickly join his friend.

"My name's (Y/N) not little mouse!" you shout after him but he just laughs, "This school is full of weirdos," you mutter under your breath before hurrying along to the gym.

You stare around the gym and wonder what god you've pissed off, sharing a look with Vivi you figure she's thinking of something on a similar level. All of junior year is sat on the bleachers as the coach tips a bucket of rubber balls on the centre of the court, you knew exactly what those were for and you knew this was about to be hell, "All right juniors, seeing as Coach Matthews isn't able to be with us today, we're going to be having ourselves a little dodgeball match," the confirmation makes your stomach twist, and the fact that a cheer goes up throughout the crowd makes you want to be sick. It's not that your bad at this kind of game, you were actually pretty good. You just hated it, hated the memories it brought up. The coach called up Ace and Kid as team leaders and had them pick out who they wanted on their teams, Kid's eyes roamed the bleachers before landing on you, he grins and you glare at him shaking your head slightly before he calls out you name. You facepalm as everyone turns to look at you,

"I'm going to murder someone," you mutter under your breath, Vivi pats your arm sympathetically as you get up and make your way down to Kid's side, Ace throws you a concerned frown, "why?" you grumble at the red giant,

"Because I find it amusing little mouse," he whispers back as Ace calls for Sabo. They continue to take turns until no-one is left. You are a little sad that most of your friends are on Ace's team apposing you, and now you're stuck between Kid and Killer. Well if anything you can at least use them as shields. The whistle blows signalling the start and everyone dashes forwards to grab a ball. You quickly start to believe this is more of an all-out war than a game, dodging easily as you've always been pretty quick on your feet you soon begin to notice someone is gunning for you particularly, a tall girl with long pink hair is glaring at you and launching balls at you like cannon fire. You somehow manage to escape them even bouncing some back, though your shocked at the weight behind it. It gets to the point where there is just you, Kid and Killer left on your side, and bout seven on the other, including Ace and the pink haired girl. Ace has spotted how she's actively going for you by now too, but he's stuck focusing on keeping balls from hitting him as Kid seems determined to get him out. You get distracted for barely a second, but a second is all it takes, a ball slams hard into your right shoulder sending you reeling backwards. With the impact comes a sharp pulsing spike of pain followed by a flash of memories. You cringe inwards and grip at your shoulder letting out a pained gasp. A whistle blows as you hit the floor, followed by the loud slap of feet on the polished wooden floor as people move towards you,

"(Y/N) are you okay?" Ace's voice alerts you that he has crouched beside you,

"Bonney what the hell!" Kid yells,

"What? All I did was throw the ball at her, she's being over dramatic," a girls voice huffs, the coach tells everyone to sit down before moving over to the small cluster around you on the floor, "she's just after attention,"

"Miss Jewelry, go sit down, we will talk about this after," the coach snaps, someone gently removes your hand from your shoulder and you wince as fingers probe lightly, "Miss (L/N)…" the coach hums, "Someone should take her to the nurses office,"

"I'll..." you hear Ace begin as someone slips an arm around your shoulders and the other under your legs before marching out. The whispers fade as the gym doors close. You slowly open your watering eyes which you had squeezed shut the moment of impact, shock thunders through you as you look up into a cold stern face. Law was carrying you.

"L,law..." your voice comes out like a whimper, he glances down at you but says nothing as he swiftly walks, soon reaching the nurses office and pushing inside,

"Law?" a male voice perks up on their entrance,

"I've got this," Law tells the man and ignores the beginning of a protest as he places you sitting up on the bed. You don't even see the nurse as Law pulls the curtains around the bed and gives you a frown. "I need to see your scar," he states. You blank, eyes widening and your hand twitching up to your shoulder, it's still throbbing with pain but not as much now,

" do you mean?" you gulp, not aware your beginning to tremble,

"You're not going to become a good doctor with that bedside manner," the nurse's voice calls out,

"I don't need a good bedside manner for what I plan my future to be Cora-san," Law grumbles, but he does however give you a softer look, "(Y/N)-ya, I felt your shoulder before, there is scar tissue, the impact from the ball caused pain yes?" you blink relaxing a bit at the oddness of the 'ya' he had added to your name, you remember he also added it to Shachi's name, you take a steadying breath getting a nod of approval from him before responding,

"Yes, and yes it caused some pain. It's fine now though," you look down at your feet dangling over the side of the bed, but Law won't have that, he tilts your head back up with the tips of his fingers on your chin and looks into your eyes, you both stare at each other before you become incredibly uncomfortable with his unblinking eyes, "fine... it still hurts, but not as sharp as before." He smirks and stands straight before turning to face away from you,

"I would like to check your scar still, you will need to remove your t-shirt, let me know when your covered up." You fidget for a moment, you get the feeling he's not going to let you out of here before he checks it, at least he's polite enough to look away. You wince a little as you pull your shirt over your head before holding it over your chest,

"Okay..." you mumble and he turns back to face you, you avoid his gaze as he moves closer and inspects the scar just below your clavicle, he hums and gently prods around the scar causing you to wince,

"Do you experience pain in your scar a lot?" He asks, you peek up at him, surprised that's his first question,

"No, only when pressure is applied really,"

"Cora-san do you have any painkillers?" he calls over his shoulder,

"Well this is a nurse's office," the man replies with a chuckle which makes Law scowl, the sounds of the man moving before a loud crash can be heard, Law's shoulders slump and he shakes his head,

"You can put your shirt back on," he tells you before slipping beyond the curtains to berate the man. You bite your lip as not to laugh and pull the shirt back on. A few minutes later the curtain is pulled to the side by an extremely tall blonde man who smiles kindly at you and offers you a couple of pills and a plastic cup of water,

"Thank you," you mumble taking them, Law is reorganising a trolley that seems to have been knocked over,

"You should be okay (Y/N)-ya, pain in scars isn't all that common but it's not always something to worry about, if it does become too much you should go to the hospital," Law says looking at you pointedly, "It's healing pretty well so that's a good sign, it's most likely the nerve endings healing, but it could form a neuroma so just take it easy."

"Okay," you nod, making a mental note to google neuroma when you get home. Everything is quiet as Law continues to organise and the nurse sits on a stool twirling from side to side, "you're not going to ask?" you finally question, Law looks at you and raises a brow, "how I got it?" he hums for a moment,

"Not particularly, I'd be lying to say I wasn't curious, but your past is your own," he moves one final thing before standing straight and looking at you straight on, "I am however wondering if you will still be okay to have Bepo this weekend," the nurse sits up straight at this,

"Bepo?" you ask,

"You're not leaving Bepo with me?" the nurse asks,

"Bepo is my dog's name," he tells you before turning to the nurse, "If I left him with you Cora-san, I'd return to find the house a pile of dust and rubble, or worse, on fire,"

"I hardly think that's possible, or necessary to assume," he pouts, their exchange makes you giggle. This pauses their interaction, the man smiling widely and reaching out a hand to you, "I'm Rosinante, but you can just call me Cora-san like our Law does, it's always nice to see he's making new friends. I only ever see him with Shachi and Penguin,"

"We'll be leaving now," Law says helping you to your feet, clearly he's embarrassed by the man,

"It was nice to meet you Cora-san," you give the man a smile and he smiles wider; Law tugs you out of the room.

"(Y/N)!" multiple voices yell from down the hall, glancing down with wide eyes you note the group rushing towards you, and grab Law's arm,

"Law, I need a favour, don't tell them about my scar," you look up at him, he frowns, "please..."

"Fine, I'll consider it as payment for this weekend then," he smirks a little, you smile relieved and then a sobbing Vivi is hugging you,

"Are you okay!" she pulls back and looks you over, Shachi is right behind her, hovering around you,

"Does it still hurt, you did help her right Law, and not just scowl at her?"

"She's fine Shachi-ya," Law sighs,

"You need to control your psycho girlfriend," Ace scowls at Kid as they bring up the rear of the group with Killer,

"You know perfectly well, no-one controls Bonney," Kid scowls back loudly,

"Guys... keep it down before you get us all in trouble for being loud in the hallways between class!" Sabo snaps,

"Are you sure you're alright (Y/N), do you want to go home?" Koala asks holding up your bag which you gladly take from her,

"No, I'm fine honest. Just a little bruised," you shrug, Law glances at you before taking his bag from who you can now guess is called Penguin.

"I'll see you tomorrow (Y/N)-ya," Law smirks a little before walking away, Penguin gives you a wave and Shachi hesitates before hurrying off, calling over his shoulder at you,

"I'll call you later (Y/N)!" you giggle at little but that stops when you find six sets of eyes on you,

"So, Shachi has your number?" Koala asks with a teasing smile,

"Yes, because we're friends," you put emphasis on the word friends,

"Are we not friends?" she pouts,

"Of course we are," you sigh,

"Then why don't I have your number?" you roll your eyes,

"How about I give it you, while (Y/N) goes and changes out of her sports kit," Vivi suggest while giving you a gentle push towards the girls toilets nearby, "We'll meet you at the library okay (Y/N)?" you send her a thankful smile before escaping Koala's judging eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

You exit a few minutes later once you have washed your face and changed back into your regular clothes, much more comfortable in your (f/c) hoodie. You pause surprised finding Ace waiting for you, lent against the wall opposite the door reading something on his phone, he glances up at you as the door shuts with a snap, you jump at the sound and he chuckles lightly, "You didn't have to wait..." you tell him,

"I know, I wanted to," he smiles and pushes of the wall, his smile droops a little though as he looks at you with concern in his coal black eyes, "you really okay?" you find yourself rubbing your shoulder gently and surprised at the sudden urge to tell him, to tell him you're not okay, about the scar, about the incident. But the words are stuck in your throat. With a sigh you shake your head and give him a smile,

"I'm fine, don't worry. More embarrassed than anything, and confused," You pout, "what was that girl's problem?" the pair of you begin to walk as he twirls his phone in his hand, you're worried he will drop it if he's not careful,

"Bonney? She's kind of a psycho, it was probably because Kid chose you for his team honestly. She gets majorly jealous, laid in pretty thick to his best mate end of last year. Everyone's pretty sure that's why they left," he rambles before glancing at you, "how do you and Kid know one another though? I didn't think you two shared a class, other than Phys Ed that is?"

"We're locker neighbours," you shrug, "So Bonney is his girlfriend?" he nods, "I'll make a mental note to stay away from her crazy ass then, I don't need any more of that kind of abuse in my life again," you cluck your tongue rubbing your shoulder again, oblivious to the deep frown Ace gives you. You both walk quietly for a moment, before his phone twirling gets on your nerves and you swipe it from his grasp, he quirks a brow at you. "Can I have your number?" you ask, he stumbles a step before raising his brows at you,

"You want my number...?" he sounds so surprised, you bite your lip and look down at his phone in your hands, the background is of him, Sabo and Luffy wearing Disney hats and pulling dorky faces,

"W,well... what Koala was saying before... about being friends and not having each other's numbers, I'm not used to having more than one friend," you begin awkwardly, "It used to be just Camie... a,and I just thought since we're friends..." you don't understand why this feels so awkward, "I mean... we live next door to each other so maybe it's a little weird..." Ace pauses your words by placing a hand over yours. Without realising it you have come to a complete stop and he's in front of you. You look up into his amused face,

"I'd like it if we exchanged numbers," he smiles wider and you feel your cheeks warm, "you've never asked for someone's number before have you?" it's like he can see straight through you,

"That obvious huh?" you cringe embarrassed, "Camie and I got our phones at the same time, we didn't even question it we just swapped numbers without a thought. Then other than that I only had my mothers, Rayleigh's and Shakky's. But then I get here and people keep asking for it," you puff out your cheeks, "I'm not used to it at all," he chuckles and gives you a goofy grin,

"So, I'm the first person you've asked personally, I'm honoured," you roll your eyes at his silliness,

"I'll put my number in your phone then..." you look at him again questioningly and he nods releasing your hands and you quickly type it in then hand him the phone so he can save it as a contact, he quickly does so and sends you a message. Pulling your phone out of your bag you snicker at the silly emoji he's sent; you save his contact as 'freckles' and smile feeling a strange warmth across your chest,

You both ended up heading straight to your next lesson as your free period was almost over. It wasn't long until Sabo and Koala joined you, "I thought you were going to meet us at the library," the girl pouts as she sits down behind you,

"Sorry, I took a little longer than I thought," you shrug,

"Hmm," Koala narrows her eyes a little and looks between you and Ace, "Is that all?"

"What else would it be?" Ace questions while leaning back on his chair,

"Well you were pretty insistent on waiting for her," she smiles, Ace blushes and scowls at her,

"Are you feeling better now (Y/N)?" Sabo steps in before anything can start,

"Yes, thank you for worrying about me but I'm fine honestly," you give him a smile, "Oh!" you look between both brothers, "do you guys want a lift home?"

"We can walk don't worry," Sabo says, "We have to stay after school anyhow,"

"Yeah, me and Luffy have team practice and Sabo's got school council stuff," Ace informs,

"It's a meeting actually, not just 'stuff' Ace," Koala points out,

"I don't mind waiting," you tell them, "what time do you finish? I can hang out at the library and do homework until you're finished,"

"I should be finished around five, I think Luffy's the same," Ace immediately liking the idea of you waiting for him,

"Are your sure (Y/N)?" Sabo frowns but you chuckle,

"Sabo it's fine, remember what I said this morning, I'll feel much better if you guys are with me, don't see this as me doing something for you, but you doing something for me,"

"Alright I guess," he finally gives in,

"Do you need a lift Koala?" you ask, surprising the girl,

"That's very generous of you thank you."

You waved goodbye to them and headed to the library, having to avoid running into Bonney at one point. You shake your head as you slip into the library, not having the energy to deal with that basket case right now. You're surprised to find Shachi and Penguin sat at a table, Penguin looks like he's sleeping with a magazine over his face making you frown disapprovingly, Shachi however is frowning in concentration, smiling you head over and drop into a seat beside him, "It can't be that painful can it?" you tease, he looks up surprised then grins,

"Hey (Y/N), history assignment," he cringes, "this one's supposed to be helping," he kicks Penguin under the table, making the boy yelp loudly and sit up scowling. They get shushed by others making you and Shachi giggle,

"Did you have to kick me," Penguin grumbles rubbing his shin before realising you're here, "Oh, hi (Y/N),"

"Hello," you chuckle while pulling out your own homework, "I hope Shachi didn't kick you too hard,"

"Should've kicked harder," Shachi mumbles getting a scowl from his friend,

"It's fine," Penguin responds to you, "how's your shoulder doing?"

"Much better," you figure you should probably get used to being asked this, you have a feeling it won't be the last time,

"Bonney really went at you," he shakes his head, "that girl is insane,"

"So, I've been informed, Ace was telling me she's likely jealous because Kid chose me for his team," you begin going over your homework,

"How did that come about by the way?" Shachi asks curiously, "he chose you even before Killer, he's only ever done that with... well they've left anyhow now," he shrugs, you raise a brow and Penguin leans forwards resting his elbows on the table and playing on his phone,

"You probably think Killer is his best mate, right? Well you would be right I suppose but there was someone even closer, inseparable they were, lived next door to one another and grew up together. They built the craziest shit. But then Bonney happened and well, there was a huge argument and since then, poof, they've been gone," Penguin pulls up a picture, "Science fair last year, this is them and the contraption they built," you gaze at the picture of Kid and another much smaller grinning form,

"They look really close," you note,

"Yup, and Bonney shattered that, she's been moving through one guy to the next since we started high school," Shachi shakes his head, "pretty sure she was with Ace before she moved onto Kid,"

"Wait really?" this shocked you, Ace hadn't mentioned anything when he told you about Bonney. It unsettled you for some reason. Deciding you needed to change the topic of conversation you ask the boys, "so is it just you two here? Where's mister stoic and sarcasm?" they both snort out a laugh,

"Law is on the basketball team," Shachi tells you, "so we always wait for him, what about you? You don't usually come to the library after school, not that I'm complaining," he grins,

"I offered to give Ace, Sabo and Luffy a lift home, oh and Koala," both boys look at you, "I live next door to them," they make oh faces causing you to giggle. Within no time you finish your homework and even help out them with theirs, where you can at least. Once your all done there is still half an hour left to wait,

"I'm bored," Penguin announces, "let's go watch the last bit of their practice," he suggests standing up. You nod in agreement, sitting here any longer you might fall asleep. And so, you head towards the gym, but the sweet sounds of a violin had you slowing down until you come to a stop outside a classroom, Shachi and Penguin haven't even noticed you stopping. You slip into the room enthralled by the music to find a tall figure with an impressive afro stood beside a music stand playing the violin. After a moment they stop playing and turn to face you, you snap back to your senses,

"Sorry... I heard the music and couldn't help..." you shrug smiling sheepishly,

"Yohohoho, no problem at all, I sense a fellow music lover," he smiles,

"You play beautifully," you compliment him,

"Why thank you (Y/N)," he chuckles and you pause,

"You know who I am?"

"Yes, Luffy speaks very highly of you," he responds,

"You're a friend of Luffy's... wait... are you Brook?" you remembered the others talking about a friend they had yet to introduce you too, he nods and bows,

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance at last (Y/N), I've been busy helping the band get ready for homecoming. Do you play?" he holds up his violin,

"I dabble a little I suppose, with an acoustic guitar that is," you shrug, "I'm still learning,"

"We're always learning, every day we learn," he moves over to the corner and pulls a guitar off the rack, "would you play something for me?"

"Oh... I don't know, I've never really played in front of anyone before,"

"You play!?" you jump and turn around to see Shachi and Penguin at the door,

"You vanished from us so we backtracked," Shachi chuckles, you pout,

"I play a little, I'm not very good..."

"Play something?" Shachi pleads, you sigh, he's like a puppy,

"Okay... but please keep in mind I'm not exactly good at it," you turn back to Brook and take the guitar he's holding out to you, "I usually make up my own stuff so..."

"Please, play what you're comfortable with," Brook insists, you walk over to where a piano stands in the corner and sit on the bench, dropping your bag to the floor you get yourself comfortable. With a deep breath you block out everything around you, you strum a few chords letting their vibrations flow over you before beginning a song you had created a long time ago, a song you knew like the back of your hand. You start to become lost in the music as Brook adds his own sound to it, you smile, never having played music with someone else before. Feeling a bit more confident you sing the words softly, allowing your voice to get steadily louder as the sound of the music built up echoing around the small music room. Once you finished you lowered the guitar across your lap, "that was beautiful," Brook commends making you blush slightly, a sudden burst of applause by the door makes your face flush even darker red, especially when you notice it's not only Shachi and Penguin now. At some point Ace, Sabo, Luffy and Koala had arrived and were stood there looking stunned, even Zoro and Law was there. Law flashes you a smirk before bopping his two friends on the head and heading out. They give you a wave goodbye before hurrying after him.

"How long have you lot been there?" you ask while handing the guitar back to Brook who secures it away,

"Pretty much from the start," Koala chuckles, "that was amazing (Y/N),"

"That was AWESOME!" Luffy bounces, "You guys should play together again!"

"Maybe some other time Luffy," you pick up your bag feeling flustered,

"It would be an absolute pleasure to play with you again anytime," Brook informs you; you smile up at him,

"That would be quite nice," you admit getting a chuckle.


	9. Chapter 9

You drop onto your bed with a sigh and stare up at the ceiling, "I wonder if Uncle Rayleigh will let me paint it..." you wonder out loud, that's when you realise, you're starting to like it here. Your phone pings and you shuffle awkwardly to get it out of the back pocket of your jeans, really not wanting to get up, you blink at the notification, one new message from Trafalgar D. Water Law. "Did he seriously save his number with his full name... what the hell," you snort out a laugh and open the message, it's his address and a reminder to arrive at six am, no later. You roll onto your stomach and type out a reply,

(Y/N) - Your full name is Trafalgar D. Water Law?

Law – Are you still willing to look after Bepo?

You giggle at his response, clearly, he's ignoring your question.

(Y/N) - Why wouldn't I be?

Law – Your shoulder.

(Y/N) - It's not hurting anymore, it's fine. I'll be there at 6am, prompt, maybe even earlier!

Law – Just on time will do.

(Y/N) - Yes Captain Trafalgar D. Water Law 😜

You chuckle, thinking you might just have to be early now just to see his reaction, your phone pings again,

Law – You have a beautiful singing voice by the way.

You scowl at the phone, an embarrassed flush rising, before another message pops up,

Law - Goodnight (Y/N).

You throw your phone to the side and roll back onto your back. Today had been a rollercoaster of emotions, you should ring Camie, but for now, just a little nap. You close your eyes and it only feels like moments later that you hear your phone ringing, your favourite song blaring loudly. You frown, the lighting is different... "Crap!" you bolt upwards and grab at your phone answering before checking who's ringing, "Hello?" you glance at your clock, it flashes 5:45am at you, "crap," you mutter under your breath scrambling off the bed,

"(Y/N)?" Shachi's voice comes softly through the phone, you switch it to loud-speaker and drop it on your desk, "you okay...?"

"Yeah!" you shout scrambling to change clothes and spray yourself profusely in deodorant, you will just have to have a shower when you get back, hopefully you don't smell, snickering can be heard, "don't laugh at me, I fell asleep without setting an alarm!" you ram your feet into a pair of boots and snatch up your phone and run out of your room, you dodge past a confused Shakky, "Sorry aunt Shakky, gotta run I'm late!" and then slide down the banister,

"You're not late, you still have ten minutes," Shachi teases,

"I wouldn't have that at all if you hadn't rung," you sigh, snatch a slice of toast off your surprised Uncle and stuff it in your mouth as you dash outside and to your car, unlocking the door,

"Ah, so you could say I'm your hero?" he jests, you choke on the toast as you start laughing, throwing the crusts of it out the window for the birds you clear your throat,

"Sure, let's go with that you weirdo," you pull up the navigation app on your phone and take a quick look at the route before starting the car and heading out. Maybe a little over the speed limit,

"Do drive carefully please? I'd like to see you arrive in one piece," Shachi chuckles,

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I'll be there in a moment," you pull onto Law's street, he actually didn't live all that far from you, "I could have probably walked... if I got up on time, ah I see you!" up ahead Shachi is waving, beside him is Penguin also waving, "You both look like loons, hang up." He's grinning as you pull up, "Seriously... surprised you didn't have a flag too,"

"Maybe next time," he teases opening your car door. You slip out noting the time is six exact, Law steps out the house tugging gently on a leash,

"Shachi, I owe you; I get the feeling Law doesn't like tardiness,"

"Oh, you'd be right there," He chuckles. Law heads over to you, a pure white Samoyed trotting beside him, you refrain from squealing at how beautiful he is, but you do crouch down as they reach you,

"Well aren't you a handsome man," you scratch Bepo behind the ear, his tail wagging,

"Shachi-Ya, Penguin-Ya, could you get Bepo's food before Cora-san attempts it, I don't have time to clean up a mess," the two frown, probably because surely it doesn't take two to get some dog food, but they both do as he asks, "I see you're already making friends with Bepo," Law smirks down at you as your making smushy faces with the dog. Glancing up you see his smirk deepen and turn a little red. Clearing your throat you stand up,

"I like dogs," you shrug,

"I see that, how is your shoulder this morning?" his question makes you sigh,

"It's fine, I'm getting fed up of repeating myself," he's silent for a moment,

"Did you sleep well?" he asks while handing over Bepo's leash,

"Surprisingly," you shrug once again,

"You have trouble sleeping other times?" you narrow your eyes at him,

"Why are you quizzing me, I get you want to be a doctor but..."

"Surgeon actually," he disrupts, you blink up at him, "I want to be a surgeon,"

"That's still a doctor..." you point out making him chuckle, "shouldn't they have come out by now?"

"Cora-san probably got to the food before them, so it's most likely all over the place now, and there's probably a fire too," he shrugs, your eyes widen in shock then narrow,

"Is that why you sent them both in?" your question brings a small almost sadistic smile to his face and you shake your head, a bubble of laughter rising out of you.

Eventually the boys came out with the food, followed by Cora-san. And just as Law had predicted, he had spilt all the food, and set fire to himself, somehow. He asked how you were feeling today, making you pout and glare at Law, "I'm blaming you for people asking me that all the time now,"

"You can't blame me for that," he frowns,

"Well too late, I am," you stick your tongue out at him then get Bepo into the car, securing him in the back while Shachi places the bag of dry dog food in the back, "When do you want me to bring him back?"

"Don't worry, I'll come get him," Law informs,

"Alright then," you look over the three boys with a smile, "have fun with your trip,"

"I'll send you pictures," Shachi promises making you chuckle when Law sighs,

"It's not a field trip Shachi-ya." After a few brief instructions on how to care for Bepo, which had you reminding him you had looked after dogs before. You waved goodbye to the boys and Cora-san and headed back home. It was now seven o'clock.

"I was there pretty long huh Bepo? Considering I was just picking you up," you chuckle when the dog barks in response and turn onto your drive. Getting out you spot Ace out the front of his doing stretches, and you get distracted for a moment before shaking your head and opening up the back to let Bepo out,

"You're up early today," Ace's voice suddenly comes from beside you causing you to yelp and jump slightly, "sorry, didn't mean to startle you," hand on your heart you turn to him,

"N,no it's fine," you take a calming breath, "I could ask you the same, I pictured you being one of those guys who likes to sleep in at the weekends," he chuckles,

"Usually am, but Coach has been pushing us hard. He really wants to make sure we win our homecoming game. So, figured I'd do a bit of training," his gaze drops down to Bepo who's sniffing his shoe, "you have a dog?"

"No," you laugh, "this is Bepo, Law's dog, I'm dog sitting for the weekend," he snaps his onyx eyes back up,

"Was that what you guys were talking about during lunch yesterday?"

"Yeah, apparently Shachi suggested it," you shrug and crouch down to scratch Bepo's ear, completely missing the relief on Ace's face,

"Does Luffy know?" you look up at Ace's question,

"I don't think so, I've not really mentioned it... why?" you frown,

"Because he really likes dogs, and I'm pretty sure he's cornered Law in the park before," he laughs and you join in,

"Maybe I should invite him out with me later then, I'll need to walk this guy and I'll need to figure out where the park is... where anything is really,"

"We can show you around easy," Ace suggests, you smile amused a little as Ace just invites himself along,

"I'd like that, when will you be free?" he checks his watch and thinks over your question,

"Give me about an hour, I'm just going on a run, wait... I'll come get you once I'm back and I've showered," that reminds you that you also still need a shower, "I'll also need to wake Luffy up, but if I mention you and Bepo he should spring to action," he chuckles,

"You guys will probably want to eat breakfast too," you suggest while moving to grab the dog food out the back of your car, Ace however notices this and grabs it for you,

"Well actually, I'm thinking we can grab breakfast while being out? There're a few places that don't mind dogs and some that also have outdoor seating," he starts walking up to your front door, you frown slightly and follow, Bepo moving with you like a good boy,

"I can carry that myself you know?"

"Probably," he throws you a cheeky grin that makes you feel warm, "but what kind of neighbour or friend would I be if I left you to it, especially after yesterday,"

"What about yesterday?" you both look to find Rayleigh at the door, about to leave for work, he raises a brow at you both,

"Nothing, absolutely nothing happened yesterday," you say quickly, clearly your uncle not believing you turns on Ace and stares, Ace gulps, you sigh and step closer to Ace, "Uncle stop silently interrogating him, it was nothing, just got hit by a dodgeball and it's totally being thrown out of proportion," his eyes return to you and Ace relaxes. Rayleigh frowning at you his gaze slides to your shoulder then back to your eyes and raises a brow questioningly, "It's fine," you insist with a tone that shows you're not willing to talk on the subject,

"We'll discuss it later," he says before heading to his car, "Enjoy your day, and Portgas, you behave with my neice,"

"Oh my god! Seriously!" you scowl at your now chuckling uncle as your face heats up, you turn back to find a flustered Ace, "Sorry, just ignore him, he's an idiot,"

"Y,yeah, it's fine," he gives you a crooked smile, "l,let's get this inside then I can go do my run so we can head out sooner rather than later. OR else it will be lunch we eat instead of breakfast," you nod and open the door. Ace places the bag of dog food in the kitchen, says a polite hello to Shakky before giving you one last smile and heading out, "I'll see you in a little while!" he calls as he leaves. You unclip Bepo's leash and turn to your aunt finding her watching you,

"What?" you frown not liking the teasing look on her face,

"Going on a date?"

"What! No!" you turn red again, "We're going to the park and some other stuff, and Luffy will be with us," you huff, "don't suggest ridiculous stuff," Shakky sips her coffee before commenting,

"Would it really be that ridiculous to go on a date with our little Ace?"

"He's not exactly little..." he was taller than you, your words make your aunt raise an amused brow, "Oh god, no, stop," you shake your head and march out the room, "you and Uncle Rayleigh are the worst!" It feels like your face is on fire as you drop onto your bed, your shortly followed by a big fluffy weight. Giggling you turn to Bepo and snuggle with him letting your thoughts wonder, "me and Ace are just friends," you say confidently, Bepo just licks your face, "you're right, I need a shower," you chuckle, ruffle his fur and jump off the bed.

Just over an hour later, Luffy comes bouncing into the house without knocking and being scolded by Ace who also apologises profusely to Shakky. The three of you then head out and proceed to spend pretty much the whole day together, mostly at the local park where you and Ace laughed at Luffy rolling around on the grass with Bepo. You had a lot of fun and were quite sad when it started to get late since you had to head back home, Luffy had hold of the leash as you walked back, you smiled amused at a message Shachi had sent, he had been sending you messages all day, you pretty much knew exactly what the three of them were doing at any given moment, you had sent a picture to him of Luffy and Bepo playing earlier. "They look they're having fun," Ace says looking over your shoulder at the phone,

"Yeah," you snicker, "they even managed to get Law to smile," you move the phone so he can see better,

"You and Shachi are pretty close huh, after a week..." Ace comments,

"I suppose, he's my friend, like you all are. That's still weird to think about," you frown,

"You seriously only had to one friend in Sabaody?" Ace questions, he finds this unbelievable,

"Yeah, I'm awkward and don't really know how to talk to people half the time," you shrug. You had made it to the house and Luffy had let himself and Bepo in, the pair of you paused outside the door though,

"You're doing just fine here," he points out,

"I think it's more you guys than me, or maybe it's Luffy," you chuckle, he smiles amused,

"Maybe, but don't put yourself down, you're pretty cute and cool," you both go quiet as his face flushes a little,

"Cute huh?" you raise a brow, "Hmm, maybe you've been outside for too long," you laugh, he frowns a little,

"(Y/N)… you need to have more confidence," he leans down a little so your eyes are level, making your laugh stop almost instantly as you blush a little at how close you are, "You are a beautiful person, inside and out," you just stare into his eyes, a little lost for thought. The sound of a car door slamming shut startles you both and he quickly stands up straight,

"Yo Ace, is that your girlfriend Thatch was telling us about yoi?" a voice calls over, Ace turns a deep shade of red and glares over at the voice's owner, a dark blush also spreads over your face too,

"She's not my girlfriend! Will you and Thatch stop saying that!?" Ace shouts, you glance over to find a grinning blonde leaning on the fence between both properties, you blink, recognising him from somewhere, this must be the final brother,

"Say that to your red faces yoi," he snickers, both you and Ace look at one another automatically, turn an even darker shade of red and look away again,

"Shut up Marco," Ace huffs,

"Shishishi, you guys are really red," Luffy is back at the door, "can I come play with Bepo tomorrow (Y/N)?"

"Ah, y,yeah of course. I'm not sure what time Law is picking him up..." you stutter,

"Yay! I'll be back tomorrow!" he jumps down the steps and races over to where Marco is who lurches out of the way when Luffy jumps over to fence at him, Marco starts yelling at him only making Luffy laugh,

"Sorry about Marco," Ace mutters rubbing the back of his neck,

"Oh, no problem," you mumble back, you both share a nervous embarrassed glance, "I uh, should get in and feed Bepo..."

"Y,yeah... I'll speak to you later..." you both share and awkward wave before you dash into the house. Leaning against the door you slowly slip down to the floor, face burning hot you cover it with your hands,

"God's that was so embarrassing..." you are soon distracted by a very needy and hungry Bepo, "alright, alright, let's get you some food mister."


	10. Chapter 10

You spent the rest of the late afternoon and much into the evening playing your guitar, Bepo sat on your bed listening and dozing off. You think he liked it. Your aunt popped her head in before heading to work for the night to let you know Rayleigh wouldn't be back till tomorrow due to some problems that had arisen at the shop and to call her if you need anything. Once you heard the click of the door shut and lock you set your guitar aside and pick up your phone, you had messaged Camie earlier apologising for not calling the night before. She had insisted it was fine, she was going to be busy tonight with her part time job at a café so you wouldn't have your daily chat. You take a picture of Bepo taking up most of you bed and send it to Law letting him know that his dog is doing well before getting ready for bed. You have to make Bepo move a little so you can actually lie down, "This is going to be an interesting night's sleep," you sigh while pulling as much of the duvet as you can over you. You stare off at the ceiling, mentally going through the events of the day, blushing a little remembering Ace's words, you wished you could have known someone like him back home. Maybe it wouldn't have been as bad then, you trace the scar with trembling finger tips, closing your eyes and curling on your side as dark thoughts begin to rise. "What if they decide I'm not worth their time... what if they see me as a freak... what if they are just pretending to be nice..." it feels like your suffocating, a pressure in your chest and head. You curl up tighter, as the voices of the past start screaming at you, you cover your ears and a whimper escapes you before being pulled out of it all quite suddenly by a wet snout, you blink tears out of your eyes and look over your shoulder, Bepo licks your nose. A broken smile comes to your face and you turn over and snuggle the big fluffy dog, "thank you Bepo," soon sleep falls over you as you listen to Bepo's soft steady breathing.

You sat on the bleachers, watching a game of football play out as giant bubbles rose in the air outside the school stadium. Leg bouncing with nerves you were barely aware of what was going on with the actual game, your friend had disappeared some time ago and you were beginning to worry. You check your phone but find no messages, you try ringing them, but there's no answer. Anxiety rising you can feel eyes on you, people are watching you, snickering and whispering behind hands. You check your phone again, hands trembling, both legs jittering. You stand up and make your way to the exit that will take you into the school, a cheer goes up from behind you, but it's not loud meaning the other team most likely scored. But that's a brief thought in your mind, you have to find your friend. You run through the hallways, the loud cheering from the game echoes around you as your heart pounds with a rising fear. You keep searching but you can't find them, you have to find them though, you feel that if you don't something bad will happen. Your search takes you outside, and around the building towards the caretaker's huts, long abandoned. No one had lived there for some time now. They stepped out of the shadows, chuckling and sneering at you, asking if you'd lost something. You told them you just wanted to find your friend; you didn't want trouble. But they wanted trouble, they wanted fun and entertainment, they told you that you would be their entertainment, they told you to run. But you refused, so they dragged you. Down to the floor. There was pain, but you still refused to run. Because then you saw them, your friend's eyes wide with their own fear. There was talk of punishment, something in their hands, they tried to make your friend hold it, use it. They refused so they got hurt and you lurched forward, anger pushing back your fear for a flicker of a moment. Your fist connected with something, someone. You were thrown back to the floor. Fear thundered back. They raised it. Fear consumed you. They pressed the trigger.

You bolt upwards gasping for breath, pain lacing through your shoulder sharply as you let out a sob mixed with pain and fear. You pull your knees up and squeeze your eyes shut, "Just a dream, just a dream," you mumble and grip you shoulder hard, digging your nails into it, "it's not real..." Bepo nudges you and lets out a small whine, you peek up at him and wipe you face, "Sorry Bepo..." you reach out to him and he nuzzles you, "sorry I woke you," the tears eventually stop, but the trembling just won't. With a pained sigh you press you face into Bepo's side, "I should talk with someone shouldn't I..." the dog makes a quiet chuff as if agreeing, making you chuckle ever so slightly, "but who... I don't even know if I can talk about this..." you shudder and get another louder bark from the dog, "Okay, okay," you sit up and reach for your phone. Checking the time, you see it's past two a.m. and cringe, "I don't think anyone's going to be up anyway Bepo..." you look at the dog and swear it's giving you a judging stare, "fine," you grumble and scroll through the contacts, you could see if your mother was still awake but you didn't want to worry her unnecessarily, nor did you want to call Shakky and disrupt her work. That left your friends, you were definitely not talking to Law, you needed someone who would distract you and make you feel calmer. "Vivi and Camie will definitely be asleep... and Shachi is with Law so that's a no..." your finger hovers over Ace's name, well 'freckles'. You hesitate for a moment before opening up the messenger app and sending a message before you can chicken out.

(Y/N) - Are you still awake? If not, it's fine don't worry. X

"Oh god... why did I put a kiss on it... he's going to be asleep, there's no way he's a..." the phone pings,

Freckles – I'm awake, what's wrong? Are you okay?

You stare at the phone, surprised and instantly relieved.

(Y/N) - Sorry, did I wake you?

Freckles – no don't worry, I've not been able to sleep yet. Is everything okay (Y/N)?

You take a deep breath; hands are still trembling as you type out a reply.

(Y/N) - I guess, not really.

Freckles – want to talk about it?

(Y/N) - I'm not sure how to

Freckles – want to go for a walk?

You stare at the phone and frown before jumping as it begins to ring loudly, you quickly answer it, "H,hello..." you stutter out quietly, you cringe a little, you hear shuffling about before his voice comes through,

"Hey..." he pauses, "sorry about suddenly ringing you,"

"I,it's okay," you croak out, "I'm on my own in the house at the moment..."

"You sound like you've been crying..." his voice is soft, like he's trying to be quiet but you can also hear him moving about and quiet chatter in the background before silence and the sound of a door clicking shut,

"Ah... yeah..." you bite your lip a little, "just a bad dream... you probably think that's pretty lame right...?" you let out a nervous laugh,

"Not at all. We all have bad dreams sometimes,"

"I wish it was only sometimes," you sigh,

"Come for a walk with me, you will feel better after it. Bring Bepo too," he tells you, "don't make me wait outside looking like some stalker," that makes you chuckle,

"Okay. One moment," you roll out of the bed and grab a jumper from the closet before slipping into your boots and with Bepo at your side you head downstairs. You find Ace sat on the steps just outside the front door, you hesitantly step out. He stands and turns to face you at the sound of the door shutting, his dark eyes cast over your face for a brief moment before he steps closer and wraps you in a warm hug, you lean into it and hug him back, "thanks," you mumble,

"No need," he pulls away with a small smile, "I'm always here if you need me, now come on, let's walk," he takes your hand and leads you down the steps and away from the house. You're both quiet as you walk but it's not awkward or uncomfortable, Ace decides to take you to one of the highest points in town. A memorial park that has a lookout over the valley that the town sits nestled in. "So, do you want to talk about it," he drops down onto a bench that looks out over the view, slowly you take a seat beside him and let Bepo wander a little. Keeping your eye on the inquisitive dog you take a deep breath,

"I don't really know how... but I suppose keeping it all in isn't working huh?"

"Not if it's something causing the dreams," he leans forwards a little, you can feel his gaze on you,

"Honestly, I..." you shake your head, "something happened to me back home..." you gulp a little and shudder at the memory. Ace wraps an arm around you and pulls you against his side,

"You don't have to tell me what it was. Talk about it when you're ready, and only when. You should never feel forced into saying or doing anything," you relax a little into him, grateful for his warmth and calming presence,

"It was something bad... that's all I can say right now," you mumble, you feel him nod, "since then, I get these dreams, sometimes I see that night as it happens, each detail excruciatingly on point, like I'm reliving it over and over," he rubs your arm, "then at other times it's so warped... it just becomes a mess. It turns people who I love and that I know in my heart care about me against me... I know they are only dreams but... sometimes it feels too real, I wake up and the fear is still there, the hurt, the look in their eyes," Ace shifts beside you and makes you look at him, he frowns noting the tears now silently falling and wipes them away with his thumbs,

"Whatever happened has clearly caused you a lot of emotional and mental stress." He looks pained by this, "But listen to your heart, don't let your mind twist what your heart knows is true. Your family and your friends are always going to be standing at your side."

"But what if things change... what if people see how broken I am?" you couldn't help but feel this way, as if everyone would eventually abandon you,

"(Y/N)…" he leans forwards and presses a soft kiss to your forehead pulling you immediately out of your thoughts, he then pulls back but keeps his face close to yours staring directly into you (e/c) orbs, "we're not going anywhere, even if things change, it won't change how we see you, how I see you. I promise you, I will always stick by your side," he pulls you into another hug. This one lasts for some time before he looks down at his watch, "we should start walking back, it's close to four a.m." He pulls you to your feet, "come on," you give a small smile, feeling a lot calmer now than before. Walking back, you shiver and rub your arms, you had hoped the jumper would be enough warmth from the night air, "You cold?" you glance at him, of course he noticed,

"A little," you admit, "I'm still getting used to the colder temperatures here, it's a lot more humid in Sabaody," he shrugs out of his hoodie leaving him in only his tank top and holds it out to you, "Oh, no I couldn't,"

"I insist," he drapes it over your shoulders and reluctantly you slip your arms into it, relishing the warmth,

"Are you sure...?" you didn't want to take it off now you had it on but, "you'll be cold now..." he chuckles at that,

"Don't worry, the cold doesn't really affect me," he zips up the hoodie before holding a hand in front of your face, "I bet Luffy hasn't even mentioned my devil fruit," you frown but it quickly drops into a gasp of amazement as fire flickers over his fingers,

"I think he mentioned you being a devil fruit user...but not what... now it explains why it feels like this has been on a heater," you giggle while tugging on the jacket, he grins,

"Yeah, my natural temperature runs a lot higher." You both continue walking, Bepo trotting at your side as you talk about random things, you mainly wanted to find out more about his devil fruit ability and how long he has had it. Before you know it your back at the house, you move to take off the jacket but he stops you, "give it to me some other time, plus, I've got plenty anyhow," he shrugs and takes a step towards his own house before pausing and glancing back at you, "whenever you have those dreams, just call me okay? It doesn't matter what time it is, I'll answer," you blush a bit and smile,

"Thank you, Ace," you wave goodnight to him and step inside, still wrapped up in his warmth you feel your face heat up more as you glance down at Bepo, "I feel like he just gave me his jacket to keep, don't you think?"


	11. Chapter 11

The days continued, you steadily became closer with Ace and had confided in Camie you had told him about your dreams, she encouraged you to open up more. You weren't ready for that though yet, but you were starting to feel that maybe you could tell Ace, one day. You continued to wait for the boys to finish their after-school activities, spending time with Shachi and Penguin in the library having dubbed your little get-together as "homework club". You helped them with some homework and they returned that by helping you on the subjects you struggled with. Kid still called you little mouse much to your annoyance, and you got to know his friend Killer a little more. Days turned into weeks and soon enough the preparations for homecoming were everywhere and it was starting to become impossible to avoid Nami and her incessant need to convince you to go to the dance.

"Why is it so important to you that I attend the dance?" you finally snap one day at lunch, Luffy, Sanji and Zoro look a little startled not having expecting you to shout, but you had had enough,

"You're only in high school for so long, you should enjoy it," Nami responds, "plus you get to dress up and dance,"

"If it was prom, I'd meet you halfway there," you sigh and shake your head, "Have I gave you the impression I'm a dress kinda girl?"

"You will be when I'm done with you," she smiles and you groan,

"I'm not going Nami," you glare at her,

"But we're all going, even Vivi!" you glance at your blue haired friend who shrugs,

"Killer asked..." she mumbles,

"Is it because you'd like someone to take you?" Robin asks calmly, you look to the raven-haired girl across from you, she smiles as if she knows some big secret, Nami glances at her then snaps her gaze back on you,

"Ooh," your eyes widen in alarm at Nami's tone of interest, "so is there someone you'd like to go with?" she grins, you lean back and scowl at both girls as Koala drops down on your other side, Ace and Sabo across from her next to Robin,

"What's going on here?" Koala asks curiously,

"(Y/N) wants someone to ask her to the dance," Nami responds,

"I did not say that," you hiss before Koala can react to that, feeling a blush rise you shake your head, "don't put words in my mouth,"

"You're looking very flushed there (Y/N)," Robin chuckles,

"I don't know what you're on about," you huff and pick up your bottle, hoping some water might cool you down, or at least drown you so you won't have to deal with this,

"So, who is it?" you raise a brow at the overly eager, borderline obsessed, red-head while raising the bottle to your lips, "the guy you like duh, is it one of these lot?" you choke on the mouthful of water, you had been joking about drowning, but now your wishing for your death as what you can only call an evil glint sparks in her eyes, "I see..." Koala pats your back and Vivi hands you a napkin, once you've finished almost dying you throw a dark glare at the girl who's quickly becoming the bane of your existence,

"You see nothing," you say sternly,

"You should ask him," she suddenly perks, Robin starts nodding agreeing, "why wait for him to ask,"

"I am not asking him," you spout out quickly then freeze as both girls you were considering beginning to hate smile knowingly, Koala snickers beside you and Vivi gives you a sympathetic look,

"So, who is..." a loud thud disrupts Nami's interrogation making everyone jump before all eyes turn and land on Ace, who's faceplanted the table, Sabo sighs,

"Ace..." he shakes the boy who sits upright quickly, he blinks and looks around,

"What?" he looks genuinely confused,

"You fell asleep, again," Koala tells him,

"I swear, you're gonna give yourself brain damage one day with how hard you hit the deck sometimes," Nami points out, there's some more teasing exchanged before the conversation moves onto something else, the previous topic forgotten for now, you meet Ace's dark orbs and he gives you a small cheeky grin and a wink while everyone is distracted, you smile and glance away realising he had done that just to stop Nami.

You drop into a chair beside Shachi later that day with a groan, he raises a brow at you and leans back so he can turn slightly to face your direction, "Hard day?"

"Nami is a demon sent from hell," you grumble while resting your head on the table, you had just managed to escape her after she remembered the conversation at lunch time and hunted you down at the end of school. "Where's Penguin?" you note the other boy is nowhere to be seen,

"Took a bad hit during Phys Ed, got sent home, he's okay. So, what's Nami torturing you with today?"

"Homecoming dance," you sigh, "she's been trying to get me to go for weeks,"

"You're not going?" he frowns,

"I... I don't know," you pout, "It's not exactly my thing, I never went to homecoming at my old school." You sit up, "I'm not exactly a hugely social person. Nami has it in her head that she just needs to get someone to ask me, or me to ask someone to go," you snort, "you know she tried to convince Zoro to ask me... actually I should probably thank and apologise to him when I next see him, he told us there was already someone he wanted to ask, which diverted Nami's attention to him giving me the perfect chance to escape," you snicker a little but then notice Shachi's frown, "what? Is something wrong?"

"Has no-one asked you?"

"Asked me what?" you tilt your head to the side confused,

"To the dance? I figured someone would have by now..." you straighten up,

"No, no one has asked, why would they?" this gets you a look of disapproval,

"(Y/N) you have got to have more confidence," he turns to fully face you, "You're cute, quirky and funny,"

"Quirky?" you pout a little,

"You're completely ignoring the fact I also called you cute, and funny," he points out making you blush a little, he smiles, "(Y/N), go to the dance with me?" you blink in shock and stare at him, "It 't have to mean anything," he quickly adds, "just as friends. You should go, it'll be fun, and I'd really like to take you if no one else has asked you,"

"I... I don't know..." you whisper and his smile drops a little, "I... I don't exactly wear dresses Shachi," that makes him chuckle a little,

"You can wear whatever you like, I just want to take you, and I want to make sure you have a fun time," you look away thoughtful,

"I suppose I could talk to Nami... would make her stop pestering me and trying to figure out if I'm crushing on someone... wait," you look back at him, "you realise this would make Nami target you for answers,"

"I can handle it, come on, let me be your first homecoming date," he gives you the eyes, and you know you can't say no, you give him a playful shove while laughing,

"You're like a begging puppy,"

"Is it working?" he grins,

"Fine, I'll go with you to the dance, as friends," you point out, he nods and gives you a wide grin. The pair of you turn to do some homework, an odd unsettled feeling coming over you. Maybe you shouldn't have said yes, but it's not like you were holding out hope for someone else to ask, right?

You're still deep off in thought as you wait at your car for the boys, not realising they are there until Luffy waves his hand in front of your face, "Shishishi, you were worlds away then (Y/N)," you quickly throw up a smile,

"I guess I was, just thinking of something..." you shrug and unlock the car, Luffy just chuckles and slips into the back with Sabo talking excitedly about how his coach has put him on the first string,

"You going to come to my homecoming game?" Ace asks you as you start the car, your fingers flex against the wheel and a twinge of pain laces through your scar,

"T,the game..." you frown not liking the stutter in your voice and try to focus your mind on driving,

"Yeah..." he obviously picked up on it too, "we are planning to go double dans after," he pauses before adding softly, "think about it okay?" you nod and give him a small smile. Behind you Luffy groans,

"(Y/N)," he whines, "Nami is telling me to ask you if you're sure you don't want to go to the dance, she said Sanji will take you if you want to go with someone,"

"She can't make her go, it's up to (Y/N)," Ace tells his brother,

"I'll be going," you respond, all eyes snap to you,

"What changed your mind?" Sabo enquires carefully,

"Um, well, someone asked me to go with them," you sense Ace tense up beside you, "as friends,"

"Who?" you glance at Ace, his tone was rather demanding, you frown slightly,

"Shachi," you inform causing Ace to frown and look out the window ahead, "but like I said, it's just as friends,"

"Does he know that?" Ace quizzes,

"He's the one who said it," you grumble, not understanding the sudden change in his mood,

"Nami said she'll ring you tonight," Luffy breaks in,

"I'm sure that will be pleasurable," you roll your eyes, that draws a chuckle out of the two boys in the back. Ace remains silent though which worries you. He stays silent throughout the rest of the journey and you only get a small wave as he heads inside, Sabo frowns at his brother before giving you an apologetic smile and Luffy gives you a tight hug. You head inside yourself once you watch them disappear and trudge upstairs to your room before throwing yourself onto the bed, you check the time and pout. You could really do with asking Camie for some advice, your head is all over the place but she will be in work, "Did I do something to upset him...?" you didn't know what you did but maybe you could do something to make him cheer up, you sit up and pull out your phone. Twirling it in your hand for a few minutes before typing out a message.

(Y/N) - Are you okay?

You then wait for a response, checking over your social media to kill time. You start to think he won't reply and drop your phone to your side when it suddenly pings. You pick it back up quickly, reading over the one-word response with a deep frown.

Freckles – Yes.

(Y/N) - Well that's bullshit. You went really quiet in the car. Did I do something to upset you? You better answer quicker this time or I might just come over there.

Freckles – Is that a threat? Or maybe a promise?

You shake your head and snort.

(Y/N) - Can it be both?

Freckles – You didn't upset me. Just something came to mind and I realised I should have done something about it, don't worry your pretty little head about it.

(Y/N) - But I will worry.

Freckles – Aha, you're agreeing to being pretty.

(Y/N) - I did not agree to that, stop changing the subject.

Freckles – Why, did it make you blush?

You scowl at the phone, refusing to answer that question.

Freckles – I'm guessing by the no reply that's a yes?

(Y/N) - No it is not. You know, I just wanted to cheer you up but now you're just teasing me so I might just not bother...

Freckles – That's very sweet of you, but I'm fine. Although, I'm curious on how you were planning to cheer me up...

(Y/N) - Don't know if you deserve it now.

Freckles – If you want me to say sorry, I'm not, you are pretty. But I am sorry to tease you, you make it too easy. Please tell me what you were planning?

(Y/N) - Fine. I was thinking I might go to your game. Might! It's not a confirmation of it or what not. I don't do well with crowds.

It was semi-truth; you weren't comfortable with crowds but that wasn't the reason. Football games just reminded you of the attack, "what's the worst that could happen... I'll be surrounded by my friends. It's different now... right?"

Freckles – I'd really love it if you came. It'd make my day. 😊

(Y/N) - Then we will see.

Freckles – I have one more question.

(Y/N) - Okay, make it quick because I'm gonna jump in the shower.

Freckles – Will you save me a dance?

You blink at the message and suddenly blush, "how the heck am I supposed to take that..." you ponder it for a minute before responding.

(Y/N) - I'll think about it 😋

You throw your phone down and head for a shower shaking your head and wondering if he's just a dork or kind of old fashioned.

You were much more at ease the next day though still a little confused, Ace was back to his usual self and the morning went much as it always had. You planned on talking to Vivi during homeroom but as you sat down you noted that the teacher was already here, you glance at her, "Isn't he kind of early?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that myself..." she frowns,

"Probably a new student," a voice says from behind you both, you turn to find Killer, he and Kid had homeroom with you, but it had taken you a few weeks to notice this because Kid was always late and Killer was rather quiet when not with his friend,

"A new student, wonder where they are transferring from," Vivi voices the question running through your mind as you feel a sudden uneasiness rising within you. The first bell rings and your homeroom teacher calls for the class to settle down.

"Now I know it doesn't usually happen mid-term, but we're only a few weeks in, and I want you all to be polite and welcoming, be sure to help them out to get them settled quickly," he looks around at everyone pausing when he gets to Killer, "I expect you to make sure Kid also knows this Killer," he then turns to the door and beckons someone in. A tall dark-haired boy walks in confidently with a charming smile. To you, it feels like time has slowed, each of his steps echoing as if the room were empty. Your heartbeat starts to race, you can hear it starting to drown out the words of the teacher, solely focused on the boy whilst subconsciously digging your fingers into your arms which you had wrapped around yourself,

"Hey everyone, the names Grant, I just transferred in from Sabaody High, I look forward to making friends with you all," he smiles and winks, some of the girl's giggle. His chestnut eyes slip over to you and his smile shifts slightly to sinister for a bare moment before the charming smirk is back. He keeps his gaze on you as he moves over to an empty seat close by. It feels like there is a roaring in your ears right now, Vivi is saying something to you but you can't hear it over your rapidly rising fear. Her light gentle touch on your arm sends a shock through you and you slam to your feet racing out of the room. You run until you collapse somewhere in the hallway, your chest hurts and it's hard to breathe. Specks of light are dancing around your vision even as it tunnels. You feel light headed but even as you try to take deep breathes it feels worse, your skin tingles and you think you might pass out. Feet appear in your vision but you can't focus, you're barely aware when someone crouches in front of you, all you see is vivid red hair before it quickly vanishes again. You grip your shoulder as intense pain shoots through it and now you're gasping for breath even more, the sound of feet running just barely registers before hands tilt your face up,

"It's okay (Y/N), you're okay," you know that voice, "you need to slow your breathes, stop gasping, in and out slowly, do it with me," the stern voice orders, you blink, tears stinging your eyes as you try to do what he asks, those steal eyes demanding you to follow his directions, he waits until your breathes are a little steadier, "Eustass-ya run ahead and tell Cora-san I'm bringing her," you hear an annoyed grunt before the rush of someone running off, "Okay (Y/N)-ya, I'm going to help you to your feet," his touch is gentle but strong as he pulls you up. He steadies you as you feel your legs want to give out, "we are going to take one step at a time, nice and slowly. You focus on breathing, in and out," you try to do as he asks, even as everything seems to spin around you. What seems like an eternity later you are guided into the nurse's office and your knees give out and you no longer have the strength to walk. Luckily Law was half expecting it and easily swept you up off your feet and over to the bed. There is some whispered conversation in the room but exhaustion slips over you and you fall into a deep dark slumber.


	12. Chapter 12

When you awoke you found yourself in your uncles' truck, blinking and rubbing your eyes you slowly sit up, "Hey... how you feeling kiddo?" he asks you, "I was told you had a pretty bad panic attack," you frown, yeah, it was a panic attack. You hadn't had one in a while,

"I... I just feel kinda numb now," you mumble, "what time is it?"

"Just after noon, Rosinante called me this morning but I wasn't able to pick you up until my lunch break," he pulls to a stop at the lights, "Shakky's got a delivery today too. But you've slept through the morning; do you want to talk about what caused it?" you bite your lip, if your honest, you really don't want to but he's bound to find out eventually,

"Someone from my old school transferred in," you respond quietly, Rayleigh frowns,

"Were they the one who...?" he leaves the question hanging there not wanting to make you feel more uncomfortable,

"No, he isn't the one who did it. But he was there,"

"Right," the lights change and he shifts back into drive, "I'll talk with the principle, make sure that boy is kept an eye on. We can switch your school if you want?"

"What? No! That would just be running away from the problems," you rush, he gives you a smile,

"Good, I was hoping you would say no. You know, you have a lot of friends at this school. They were all worried about you," he chuckles, "Rosinante's lad got pretty annoyed at them trying to crowd into the nurse's office," you groan a little,

"What about my car?" you suddenly ask having just remembered it,

"Don't worry, Newgate's boys will bring it back tonight,"

"Wait... one of them can drive?" you frown,

"Yeah, Ace got his license around the same time as you actually, from what I understand, Sabo has been meaning to but school council duties have kept him busy,"

"Ace drives... can he do that with his narcolepsy?"

"Apparently so, you will have to talk to him about it. They will probably want to talk to you later, I know Luffy will," you lean back in the seat and sigh,

"Don't know if I have the energy for that,"

"Just take it easy for now," he pulls up outside the house, "go take a bath and relax, maybe read a book, your friends said they would collect notes and homework for you,"

"Okay, sorry I caused you to miss your lunch..."

"It's fine kiddo, just take it steady for the rest of today, maybe stay home tomorrow too?" You frown, "That was a suggestion from Rosinante,"

"Okay, I'll see how I am tomorrow."

You spent the rest of the day doing exactly as you were told, resting. You also tried to distract your mind so it wouldn't think back to the cause of the panic attack by playing your guitar or reading, Robin had recently lent you a book and you were quite enjoying it. Shakky returned home late afternoon, checking in on you and talking with you for a while, the boys dropped off your car but you weren't feeling up to talking with them so Shakky told them you were sleeping. You felt a little guilty but you know they would want to know what happened and you simply couldn't talk to them about it, not yet at least. As you listen to your aunt sending the boys away your phone rings, upon picking it up you see Camie's image flashing across the screen, you swipe to answer and her worried voice practically screams out, "(Y/N) are you okay?! Vivi sent me a message saying you got sent home from school, she's really worried, did something happen? Are you okay? (Y/N) you're not answering me!"

"Because you're not giving me a moment to Camie," you chuckle a little,

"Ehhhhh! Oh gosh I wasn't, was I? So, what happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Camie, breathe, I'm okay, I just had a panic attack," silence follows for a moment,

"What triggered it?" with a pained groan you flop onto your bed,

"Grant transferred into the school,"

"WHAT! I knew he left but I didn't realise he moved that way! I'm so sorry (Y/N) I should have let you know,"

"It's not your fault Camie, you weren't to know he would come here. It'll be okay, it's just him..." but you're still worried, you just wanted to forget what happened in the past,

"Things are different now," Camie says as if reading your mind from miles away, "it's not just you and me, you have all those friends too. Vivi was telling me about everyone, I'm really glad you have people around you (Y/N), and if Grant tries anything, just get Ace, I bet he'll protect you," she teases, you puff out your cheeks,

"I haven't even told him about what exactly happened, I can't ask him for help like that,"

"Of course you can! You're friends, right? Even if you have a crush on him,"

"I don't have a crush..."

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. Are you going to the homecoming dance with him? Vivi said you have a date,"

"No, I'm not going with Ace, Shachi asked me, as friends," you pause before adding, "but Ace did ask me to save him a dance..." her squeal makes you hold the phone at arm's length and rolling your eyes,

"That is adorable! You said yes right?"

"I said I'd think about it," the conversation soon drifted onto what you would wear and eventually you had to say goodbye as she had to get to work. Upon ending the call, you find a message from Ace.

Freckles – Hope you're feeling better, here if you wanna talk.

You smile a little and type out a quick reply.

(Y/N) - I'm okay, just tired now. Just had a bit of shock really, I'll be fine. Talk to you tomorrow.

You set your phone down and decided maybe some sleep would be a good thing.

The next morning you decided to skip the day off school since you weren't really feeling up to it and your uncle was allowing it, you gave Ace your keys in the morning since they knocked on, it took you a few minutes just to get them to leave, "I'll bring it back later," Ace promises while walking backwards, the other two were already in the car,

"Just don't fall asleep and crash," you suggest while leaning against the door frame,

"Ha, ha," he rolls his eyes, "I'll take good care of it don't worry," he pauses in his steps, "will you be up for the game tomorrow?" you hesitate in answering, "you don't have to come,"

"I'll be there," you decide, you won't be alone and the grin he gives you makes you feel more confident that you will be okay. He waves and hurries to the car while you turn back inside and prepare to sleep the day away. Your sleep is interrupted later that day much to your annoyance, blinking you glance at your clock and sit up, "I slept all day..." your clock flashes four p.m. at you, the banging on the front door reminds you of what woke you up. You hurry downstairs and open the door to find Nami, Robin and Usopp on your doorstep,

"Get changed," Nami orders while pushing her way past you and into the house,

"Um... what?" you're still half asleep at this point, Usopp gives you an embarrassed smile,

"We're taking you out," Robin smiles and gently pushes you back to the stairs, "go get yourself ready,"

"Uh... Okay?" you frown but do as demanded, quickly changing into clean clothes and coming back downstairs to find Nami scrolling through the channels on TV, Usopp telling the red-head she shouldn't be making herself so comfortable in other people's homes and Robin eyeing the various books your aunt has. "So, is there a reason you barged in?" you put your hands on your hips,

"We need to get dresses!" Nami turns the TV off, throwing the remote to the side and jumping to her feet, "you said you weren't a dress person right, so we're going to help,"

"And by help she means force you into as many dresses as she can possibly make you," Usopp warns,

"Yep, and Usopp kindly volunteered to carry our stuff," she grins before skipping to the door, Robin chuckles and follows her, you look to Usopp,

"We will endure the pain together," you pat his arm, making him chuckle and give you a grateful smile. Your aunt enters the house as your grabbing your jacket, well, it's Ace's jacket. You let her know what's happening and she gives you her credit card insisting you use it despite your refusal. You're then dragged off to Robin's car, sitting in the back with Usopp.

Shopping wasn't too terrible, you managed to convince Nami to let you have a dress that wasn't all skimpy straps. You wanted to cover your scar but you didn't want to have to explain it to her as you knew questions would rise if you mentioned the scar, Robin became your hero and helped in persuading the she-devil. You slump in a chair beside Usopp as Robin pays for her dress and Nami tries on yet another, "How long do you think she will take to pick one?" you ask Usopp as you pull out your phone finding a message from Ace telling you he was borrowing your car a little long as him and the boys were going to double dans,

"She's most likely going to wear the first dress she found," he tells you,

"Then why are we still here?" you whine,

"Because she's the devil spawn," he snickers quietly,

"I heard that!" Nami's voice reaches you both from inside the dressing room, you both share a look and burst out laughing. Nami waltzes out, "Okay, I think I'm done, I'll take this one," and sure enough, she picks up the first dress she tried on making both you and Usopp giggle again,

"Hey, do you think we can go get something to eat?" I ask, "I kinda haven't eaten since like breakfast,"

"Food sounds really good right now," Usopp agrees,

"Anywhere you fancy in particular?" Robin asks,

"We could go to the Baratie," Nami suggests, you hadn't heard of the place,

"No way, you three will get free meals if Sanji is working because he will insist on paying but I'll have to pay and that place is out of my budget," Usopp scowls,

"I only know double dans so..." you shrug,

"Oh, I could go for one of their shakes now I think about it," she walks off to the counter with her dress and pulls out her phone,

"Double Dans it is then," Robin chuckles.

You enter the diner being practically dragged by Nami, the girl guiding you through the busy tables and over to where your friends are sat taking up most of the back corner of the place, "Hey guys," Nami grins down at the boys, "Did you drag everyone here Luffy?" she chuckles, you glance around seeing this must be true as pretty much most of your friends have spread over four tables, you leave Nami talking with Luffy and make your way over to the table Ace, Sabo and Zoro are sat at, Ace currently asleep mid eating again. You're stopped briefly by a hand, you look to meet a steely gaze,

"How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm much better. Thanks for yesterday..." you smile awkwardly,

"If you want to thank someone, thank Eustass-ya, he came and dragged me out of homeroom," he nods over to where the red-haired giant is sat with his girlfriend Bonney and Killer, Luffy is now at their table, seems the boy is bouncing from one place to the next,

"Noted, I'll do that at some point,"

"It was hilarious, teach wasn't impressed though," Penguin snickers, you roll your eyes picturing it,

"He just came in, grabbed Law by the arm, grunted at the teacher and drag him out," Shachi snorts,

"He didn't explain at all," Law sighs, "just rushed me to you," his grey eyes meet yours again, "you have been resting yes?"

"Yes doc, slept most of the day and probably would have continued if the devil that is known as Nami didn't come and force me into a shopping trip," you scowl a little, "she made me buy a dress," you hold up your bag,

"Ooh, can I see?" Shachi tries to peek,

"Nope, you can see tomorrow," you laugh making the boy pout, Luffy is then suddenly at the table and diverts the conversation. You give the boys a little wave before turning back to Ace's table, finding him awake now and watching you, he grins noting he has your attention, you roll your eyes and drop into the empty seat beside him,

"How was your shopping trip?" he asks sweetly,

"I've never known anyone who can try on so many dresses, I kind of feel sorry for Usopp," you glance over at the long-nosed boy who's ordering his food and talking to Sanji, "she made him carry so much stuff,"

"He needs to learn to say no," Zoro mutters,

"Don't you do the same though when she drags you with them?" Ace points out,

"I see it as training," he shrugs, this makes you snicker,

"Is that Ace's jacket?" Sabo asks leaning forward a little,

"Yeah... I borrowed it some time ago," you respond, Sabo looks surprised and turns to his brother,

"You lent her your favourite jacket?" his favourite? You snap your gaze to the now slightly flushed boy,

"I have more than one favourite," he huffs, a girl comes to the side of the table and smiles down, effectively ending that conversation for the moment,

"Hey guys," she looks at you, "you must be (Y/N), the boys talk about you a lot," she winks, you raise your brows at her questioningly,

"They do? Who exactly...?" she grins at you mischievously and Ace beside you, quickly clears his throat,

"This is Sakura (Y/N), she's the double dans niece,"

"Nice to meet you (Y/N)," the girl chuckles, "can I get you anything?" you order some food and she skips away. You note that Zoro watches her as she weaves between the tables, when he turns back, he notices you watching him and quickly looks away as his cheeks turn rosy.

"So, did you buy a dress?" Ace asks,

"Sadly yes, that girl is a demon, if it wasn't for Robin, I think we would still be there."

The large group ended up staying at the diner till quite late, you head home with the boys after making sure to thank Kid who just shrugged it off, all the while being glared at by Bonney. You just ignored her and hurried to the brothers, swiping the keys from Ace and jumping in your car.


	13. Chapter 13

Your nerves were all over the place the next day. You were somewhat thankful for it being the weekend but you woke up horribly early. You spent as much time as you could making sure you had everything laid out ready for getting ready for tonight but you found you did that all far too quickly. Luckily for you though, around lunch rapid knocking came to your door, you were in the kitchen going through the fridge for something to make to eat while your aunt answered the door, "Oh, hello there, I don't think she was expecting you," your aunt's voice reaches your ears and you poke your head around the doorway finding a group of your friends being let in,

"We figured we could spend some time together before the game," Nami smiles at Shakky,

"Can I borrow your kitchen?" Sanji enquires and you aunt just waves him on ahead towards you, "(Y/N)-chan you look beautiful today," he grins as he practically prances towards you,

"Don't weird her out dart-brow," Zoro groans, the pair of them coming into the kitchen shortly followed by the rest, Luffy hugging you,

"So, uh... Hey," you absently give Luffy a one-armed hug as the others spread out,

"(Y/N) I have to head to the bar early; will you be okay today?" you aunt asks from the entrance, she's giving you a pointed look,

"Ah, yeah. I'm sure I'll be okay, I'll call you if anything happens," you promise,

"Alright, have fun you guys and don't make too much mess," she waves and leaves,

"I hope it's okay we're here without letting you know," Usopp says standing beside you,

"I don't mind, just surprised,"

"Sabo and Ace would have come too, but Ace has to be at school early to get ready and Sabo has to help set up the dance," Luffy pouts,

"Koala is with him," Robin informs you, "But Vivi should turn up soon,"

"In the meantime, I'm going to make everyone lunch," Sanji announces, you smile then glance at Luffy who has his chin resting on your shoulder,

"Wanna play some games while we wait?" you ask, bringing a grin to his face,

"Yosh!" he springs away, knowing exactly where to go, you chuckle and head to the living room followed by most of the others. Over the next few hours, you play various games with mainly Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Franky. You manage to get Zoro on at least once and even go off against Brook in a rhythm game. Robin set herself down in a chair reading one of your aunts' books and Nami and Vivi spent a lot of time discussing makeup once she had arrived. Sanji made an amazing lunch and you had a great time, forgetting your morning nerves. You helped clean up the kitchen with Sanji despite his protests before you all piled out of the house and split into three groups, Robin and Franky having brought their cars. You grabbed Ace's jacket to wear before getting in your own car, Luffy and Usopp were messing around with your radio. By the time you got to school they had somehow got your radio stuck on some classical station, "I think your radio is broken (Y/N)," Luffy decides as you get out the car,

"You think so huh," you snort out a laugh,

"You should get a new one, a fancy one, oooooh I know, let's get Franky to make you a new radio," Luffy nods as if that's the plan suddenly making you laugh again and Usopp chuckle,

"It's not a bad idea mind, Franky likes to tinker and create things," he tells you, but you've stopped walking and it takes them a moment to realise you have, when they do they both turn to what or rather who has caused you to stop. Leaning on the bumper of his car is Grant, he throws you a sly grin,

"Hey (Y/N), I didn't get a chance to catch up with you since I started, some might think you ran away at the mere sight of me, but that can't be true can it?" he pushes off the car and walks towards you, "You look like you've been doing well," he glances at your two friends, "you even upped your friend count, I'm so proud of you," you tremble a little at how close he is,

"Who are you?" Luffy demands while frowning, Usopp glances between you and Grant,

"Oh, I'm an old... friend of (Y/N)'s, we both went to Saboady High together," he wraps an arm over your shoulder and gives you a squeeze, making you tense up, Luffy's arm stretches out and he grabs your arm pulling you away from Grant and towards him. You stumble to his side, "Hmm... you always did make friends with the weird ones," he says eyeing Luffy,

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luffy glares, Grant only smiles,

"Luffy lets go, the others are waiting," you plead quietly, he turns his gaze on you before sending another glare at Grant before turning towards the school and pulling you along with him as you walk,

"Who was that? I don't like him," Luffy grumbles,

"Did you really go school with him?" Usopp asks from your other side,

"Have fun watching the game (Y/N)!" Grant calls behind you making you shudder a little,

"He's just someone who went to my old school, just ignore him," you mutter to them both.

"Everything alright?" Franky asks as the three of you get close, "the others went in to grab seats,"

"Yeah, everything is fine," you throw on your best smile, he doesn't seem to buy it but your thankful he doesn't push it. You follow the boys and take a seat between Vivi and Brook, you're relieved when Luffy is instantly distracted by snacks Sanji brought,

"They're not for you!" Sanji holds the food away from Luffy, not that it really helps, "these are for the ladies only,"

"He can have mine Sanji, I don't mind, I don't think I could eat anything more right now after your wonderful food before," you tell him,

"Aww, thankyou (Y/N)-chan, if you ever want me to cook for you again just call me!" he gushes and Zoro yanks him down into his seat making him almost drop the food, Luffy snaps it out of his grip anyhow as the two friends get into it with throwing insults at one another.

You can't quite focus on the game, you're jittery, both Vivi and Brook have noticed this, Vivi asked if you were okay, you insisted you were even though you definitely were not. Being at the school's football field just reminded you of the past, Brook begins to try and distract you, talking about how he had been helping the marching band out. You listened to him as he went in depth about the music and you finally calmed down again enough to watch the game a little. At some point Sabo and Koala joined your group complaining at how long it took them to set up for the dance and then with his help you were able to figure out where Ace was on the field. You let yourself relax more and enjoy your time with your friends and cheer for your schools' team. The game finishes with a win and everyone is talking about the plans to go to the diner and who is going to go in whose car, you pass your keys to Sabo, "I'll meet you at the car," you then slip away needing to nip to the loo. You do your business before stepping out and then freeze. Leaning against the wall opposite you now is Grant. Is he following you now? You clench your fists, "What do you want Grant?" you ask quietly, he pushes off the wall, moving close to you and you find yourself taking a step back. This makes him smirk,

"I'm curious, how did someone like you manage to make so many 'friends' hmm, that is if they are truly your friends," he chuckles, "they could just be stringing you along, or pitying you, you are quite pitiful," you move another step back, your back hitting the door, he steps closer. "How's the shoulder?" he grins as your eyes widen a little, "maybe we can have some more fun, don't worry though, I won't hurt you, much," his hand reaches up to your face. You flinch back, head hitting the door with a quiet thud and squeezing your eyes shut you wait. But nothing happens,

"Back, the fuck, off," Ace's voice has you snapping your eyes open, you find him grasping Grant's wrist, Grant's hand an inch from your face, Ace pushes his hand away and forces Grant to take a step back.

"Easy," Grant raises his hands, "we were just catching up, old friends and all that, right (Y/N)?" they both look to you, Grant gives you a hard look from behind Ace, you gulp and glance up at Ace, he examines your face before turning back to Grant,

"Piss off," he then wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you against his side, now ignoring Grant he leads you away. Your trembling slightly and he rubs your arm, you can tell he wants to ask what that was about but he doesn't bring it up. "So, Luffy somehow convinced everyone to travel to the dance together. I don't know how he did it, most likely pestered them until they agreed. Pops has hired a limo that should effectively fit us all," he starts prattling on as you leave the school and head to the car park, Sabo, Koala and Brook are waiting at your car,

"The others have left already, let's go!" Koala whines, Sabo looks between you and Ace and raises a brow,

"Shotgun!" Ace grins and races around the other side,

"What hey!" Sabo scowls.

The group celebrated at the diner and you tried your best to enjoy it, but in the back of your mind you couldn't shake Grant from your thoughts which left you frowning into space at times. What were you going to do about him? Luffy had mostly everyone distracted as he was animatedly explaining the game to Thatch, everyone else giving input at times so you figured no-one would realise how quiet you were being. How wrong you were, Ace drops into the seat beside you and rests his arm on the back of your chair, "So who was that guy?" he asks quietly while watching his brother bounce around,

"Huh?" you snap out of your thoughts, "Grant? He's someone from my old school,"

"He's the new transfer?" he quirks an eyebrow at you, "What was he saying to you?"

"Nothing important," you mumble looking down,

"You looked scared (Y/N)," Ace's voice is a whisper,

"It was nothing," you peek up at him and know he doesn't believe you, "I don't want to talk about it,"

"If he's giving you problems..."

"I don't want to discuss it Ace, please," you give him a pleading look, you didn't want to bring up the past, you weren't ready to face that yet, you weren't sure you ever would be. He hums a little before letting out a sigh,

"Alright, I'll drop it," you feel like there's a silent 'for now' not being said on the end there, "So, you looking forward to the dance?" you pull a face,

"Sure, I get to torture, I mean enjoy myself in a dress and heels," he snickers at your sarcasm,

"Why not wear flats? Or are you trying for a little height?" he teases, you slap him playfully,

"I'm not that short," you pout, "I would wear flats, but Nami threatened bodily harm if I wore my converse," that makes him laugh, "I'm being serious, she did threaten that,"

"I don't doubt it," he chuckles. Speak of the devil, the red-head in question skips over to the table,

"We need to be leaving," she announces looking directly at you,

"We still have like two hours until the dance..." you say slowly and instantly regret it as Nami goes into a full explanation of exactly how much they need to do to get ready for the dance, and apparently all the girls are getting ready at yours, you look to Ace and hiss at him, "Help me," Nami just chuckles and pulls you out of your seat as Ace mouths a sorry at you,

"Come on, Robin's driving," she drags you towards the door,

"Wait," you manage to force her to stop long enough to pull your car keys out, "Ace!" you throw them at him, "don't wreck it!" you grin at his joking scowl before being yanked out the diner.


	14. Chapter 14

Getting ready for the dance was true torture, you decide Nami truly is a devil. You don't understand how girls do all this, all the effort, maybe you're just too lazy for it. You stare at yourself in your mirror, you didn't like wearing makeup but you had to at least admit that Robin had done a very nice job, keeping it more neutral so you didn't feel like a clown. The dress made you uncomfortable, but not because it was horrible or anything, it was actually a really nice dress. It's a (f/c) dress with a flowing skirt that reaches just above your knees, it has one sleeve and successfully covers the scare on your right shoulder. You were wearing a matching pair of heels; you were pretty sure you were going to break your ankles with them mind. Vivi comes up behind you and rests her chin on your bare shoulder and whispers in your ear, "I never would have figured she would be like a Drill Sergeant," she chuckles and the pair of you glance over at Nami who is finishing up Koala's hair, you snicker a little,

"I don't know, I think we should have been more prepared, especially with her obsessiveness," you point out and both of you giggle,

"Alright and done!" Nami steps back and admires her work, "we look amazing," she nods,

"Yes, and we're late," Robin nods at your digital clock, "the boys will be waiting,"

"Well we are worth waiting for," Nami flicks her hair over her shoulder and struts out the room, Robin chuckles and follows, Koala crosses her eyes at you and the three of you remaining leave the room now. Heading outside, Nami is already with the boys and fixing Luffy's tie,

"You know, I'm surprised Luffy managed to convince everyone. I never would have thought I'd see the day Law and Kid would share a limo," Koala snickers quietly beside you and Vivi,

"Do they not get along?" you ask frowning a little, Kid had gone and got Law when you had your attack so you had assumed, they were somewhat friends,

"Well, I guess it's some kind of rivalry maybe," she shrugs, "but Luffy has made friends with them both and well..." the three of you watch the boy suddenly wrap his arms around both Kid and Law's shoulders, chuckling and ignoring the glares from the two,

"Nobody can fight Luffy's friendship once he decides," you nod,

"Yes, that is definitely true." After a few moments of your giggling together, Koala trots off towards Sabo and Ace, commenting on how the latter has actually made an effort. Vivi jogs over to Killer who is debating helping Kid or not, you stroll over to Shachi and Penguin,

"Not helping captain sarcasm?" they both turn to you with a grin,

"I'm sure he can get himself out of it if he really wants," Penguin shrugs looking amused,

"Plus, it's just too comical," Shachi adds, "You look amazing by the way," Penguin nods in agreement,

"Who knew there was a smoking hot girl under all those baggy hoodies," Penguin teases, you blush a little at their comments,

"Ha, ha," you roll your eyes. Moments later everyone is being forced into a big group photo before being herded into the large limo, you're amazed it fits everyone in. Once at the school, Kid is dragged off by his psycho girlfriend, who once again sends death glares at you, "I do believe that girl dislikes me," you remark with a little amusement,

"I don't think Bonney like's anyone she deems a threat," Law notes as you walk inside with the trio of friends. You had decided to stick with them as the group dispersed into the sports hall, which had been done up for the dance, you were Shachi's date after all,

"Why would she see me as a threat though? I haven't even spoken to her..." you frown, all three boys look at you in disbelief,

"You're kidding right?" Shachi asks, your frown deepens and you look between them questioningly,

"Did I do something?"

"No, how do I explain this..." Shachi frowns a little himself,

"It's because your hot," Penguin shrugs, you just raise a brow,

"Yeah, to put it bluntly," Shachi rubs his neck blushing, "you're also funny and easy to talk to,"

"Unlike Bonney," Law adds, the four of you sit down,

"That just sounds ridiculous," you shake your head,

"You don't believe us?" Penguin questions, you shake your head,

"No, I mean come on, look at her," the group turns to look over at where Kid and Bonney are sat at a table with their friends, you feel a flicker of pity for Vivi who looks a little uncomfortable, but Killer is keeping her attention and talking with her,

"Your point?" Penguin raises a brow, "I get you don't exactly know her but she's..."

"A whore," Law bluntly lays down, looking to him he just smirks a little and shrugs, "it's true,"

"(Y/N), I've told you before," Shachi takes your hand bringing your focus on him, "have more confidence in yourself." For now, you decide to not argue with them, especially since it's three against one. You can't help not having confidence in yourself, you know you're not bad looking but they make it out as if you're something amazing and you know you're not. You're just a broken person with emotional damage. You do however manage to push all that to the back of your mind, at least for tonight you will let yourself have some fun and enjoy it. You dance with Shachi, you even dance with Luffy as he insists until Shachi literally pushes you at him while laughing. The night goes on and eventually you have to sit down, Shachi runs off to get drinks,

"You realise he's besotted with you," Law sits down beside you, he had been avoiding a fair few girls this evening as they stubbornly tried to get him to dance with them, you frown, "seriously," Law adds before you can say anything, you sigh feeling guilty,

"Okay, yeah. I think I can see it," you lean back in your chair glancing over at the current subject of conversation, you had figured he felt something more than friendship from the moment he asked you to the dance, even if he stated it was just as friends, "I just... I like him," you turn back to Law, "like really like him, but not the same way..."

"Clearly," Law nods and you scowl a little, "Shachi-ya knows this, that's the thing about him, he can be selfless, he just wants you to be happy and enjoy your time here. Because it's also clear you've had it rough in the past," your frown deepens, "I haven't said anything if that what you're thinking,"

"No, I trust you haven't told anyone," you sigh and glance around, unfortunately your gaze lands on Grant who is watching you, he smirks as your eyes meet and you tense a little,

"(Y/N)-ya, you really should talk to someone," Law tells you leaning forwards and resting his arms on the table, "it's not healthy to bottle things up," you turn to him, you wanted to deny it, say nothing was wrong, but he raises a brow before you can even open your mouth, a small groan escapes you,

"I know, I get it, it's just... it's hard," he leans over and pats your head,

"Just take your time," he gives you a rare quick smile before suddenly frowning, "sorry (Y/N)-ya, but I have to run," and he dashes to his feet and leaves, shortly after a small group of girls follows in his direction. You shake your head,

"I didn't realise he was so popular..." you mutter to yourself. You glance over at Shachi, he's been waylaid by one of his friends, he catches you watching and holds up a finger to you, signalling you that he will be there in a moment, you give him a smile, willing to wait. He smiles back while continuing his conversation with his friend, however that smile flickers to a frown. Then someone drops into the Law's recently vacated seat,

"I'm noticing a lot by watching you this evening (Y/N)," you whip your head back around, eyes wide landing on Grant, why can't he just leave you alone? "These 'friends' of yours clearly don't know the real you, the pathetic you, do they?" he hums smiling at you. On the surface, that smile is charming, maybe even handsome. You know for a fact that many girls chased after him in your old school and he revelled in it. "Because let's face it, they wouldn't give you the time of day if they did know," he rests his folded arms on the table, "but don't worry, I won't tell them all your little secrets, at least for a price," he smirks and holds a hand out to you, "I'll even play nice, for a short while anyhow, so, dance with me," he wasn't asking, you could sense it in his tone, you could see it in his eyes, it was a challenge and a demand, you twitched in your seat, "are you hesitating? You know I don't like to be denied (Y/N),"

"Sorry I took so long (Y/N)," Shachi appears and hands you your drink, you quickly drink it needing to hide your trembling hands, "you must be Grant," Shachi gives him a tight smile,

"Yeah," Grant throws up his usual charming façade, "I was just asking my old friend (Y/N) here to dance, I hope you don't mind if I borrow her, what do you say (Y/N)?"

"No," Shachi responds for you, you almost choke on your drink and look up at him, you peek at Grant's shocked expression,

"I'm sorry?" Grant finally finds his voice once again,

"Apology accepted," Shachi smiles wider, looks to you, "finished?" he nods at your glass, you hadn't but you nod slowly, "great," he takes it from your grasp, places it on the table then pulls you to your feet, "let's dance again," he's then pulling you away from the table, and away from a very peeved off Grant. It takes you a moment to fully process what just happened and you look up at Shachi who just grins, "what? I didn't like the way he acted, and as if I'm gonna fall for that smarmy smirk, I mean come on, I'm friends with Law," that makes you laugh,

"Law isn't smarmy," you giggle,

"No, but he can be pretty full of himself at times," he shrugs and grins wider,

"I think the term that should be used is narcissistic," you muse,

"True, very true," he snickers and twirls you making you giggle again. You dance for a while and you relax again, not realising how tense the interaction with Grant made you.

"Shachi... we should talk..." you find yourself saying, he raises a brow at you, "about... us..." you approach, you're not sure how this will go, but you knew you had to make it clear before it could get worse, "I really like you... but..."

"Only as friends," he gives you a soft smile, "don't look so guilty (Y/N),"

"I'm sorry, I wish I could see you more than a friend, but I can't, I adore you, adore you like I adore my best friend Camie..." you sigh and glance down, preparing yourself for him to lash out at you, for possibly giving him false hope and stringing him along with having agreed to be his date to the dance,

"(Y/N)," he touches your chin and gently makes you look at him again, he smiles again, your eyes widen a little seeing only his usually happy spark in his eyes, "I already knew this, well mostly, I'm happy you care about me as much as your best friend and I hope that means you see me on the same level," he raises a brow a little inquisitively and you nod making him grin, "good. Now look, yes, I like you, a lot, way more than a friend, I don't want to make it awkward between us though, I value our friendship. I just want you to be happy. There will be other girls for me don't worry," he gives you a wink, "maybe you can introduce me to Camie," you laugh again at his cheekiness, "besides, I know you like Ace," he says it so nonchalantly that it actually takes you a moment, but then you blush and instantly deny it,

"Ace and I are just friends,"

"At the moment," he pokes your nose, "but in time, who knows," he laughs as you swat at him, "It's okay you know," he dances around with you while laughing, "I support it, Ace is alright. But if he hurts you at all, Im gonna have to kick his ass,"

"Shachi I'm not..."

"And speaking of Ace, I hear you owe him a dance, so..." he suddenly spins you then pushes you forwards. You stumble on your heels and the floor looms close, luckily someone catches you. A warm arm quickly wraping around your waist before your pulled against a heated chest, you snap your gaze up and stare into Ace's amused face, "have fun," Shachi snickers before dashing off and away from the glare you sent him,

"What was that about?" Ace asks, you gently attempt to push yourself off him as you are pressed flush against him. However, his arm tightens around you keeping you close,

"Apparently, that was his way of reminding me I seemingly owe you a dance," you huff, your face is probably as red as a tomato right now, Ace chuckles,

"I shall remember to thank him later then," he grins,

"Yeah, well you can thank him if you want, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind however, these ankle breakers don't help my balance," you pout making him chuckle,

"Don't worry, I'll always catch you," he promises, he finally releases you a bit, enough to look you over, "I didn't get a good look at you earlier, you look amazing," he gives you a cheeky grin making you blush a little darker,

"I look ridiculous," you grumble,

"Nope, amazing, beautiful, maybe even enthralling," he grins as you blush even darker, "No wonder Bonney has been sending you death glares all night," you slap his arm as he sniggers,

"Not funny, I'm not any of those..." he covers your mouth with one of his hands,

"Nope, you're not allowed to deny it, it's not up for discussion, now," he removes his hand and pulls you close again, "I believe you owe me a dance,"

"I never said I would actually save you one," you point out,

"No, but we both knew you would though," his cheeky grin just makes you smile and roll your eyes, "dance with me (Y/N)? Please?"

"Fine, you're only going to get whiney if I say no," you tease,

"Of course, I learnt my stubbornness from Luffy," he snickers and pulls you into a dance as the song changes, he grins wide as your laughter rings out.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ace**

The homecoming dance ended with smiles; the only thing Ace could have wished to be different was having had the guts to ask (Y/N) to the dance himself. He hopes he can ask her next year. The following days were calm but he had started to notice something as the week went by and into the next. Grant watched (Y/N). Now he knows (Y/N) catches a lot of attention even if she didn't notice it herself, people admired her. But the look in Grant's eyes wasn't anything positive and it did not sit well with Ace, he wasn't the only person who noticed either.

Shachi drops into the seat beside him in History, Ace raises a brow as Shachi usually sits with Penguin, "I asked Koala to swap for the day," he answers the silent question, "there's something I want to discuss with you,"

"Oh?" Ace sits up a little, "shoot,"

"It's about Grant," Shachi says looking serious, Ace's expression darkens, "So you've noticed too. I tried to broach the subject with (Y/N) but she immediately locks up diverts the conversation,"

"Yeah, there's something going on," Ace rests his chin on his clenched fist, "but she's the same with me when I try to ask her, she doesn't want to talk about it,"

"It's kind of infuriating," they both share a small smile knowing they both feel the same, "what do we do?"

"I don't know," Ace frowns again, "he keeps trying to approach her if she's on her own, so I've been trying to make sure she isn't... but it's hard as I don't know if she shares many classes with him,"

"I know he's in Art with us, but other than that," Shachi shrugs, "she will get suspicious if we ask,"

"Maybe if we ask Vivi, I could ask her next lesson," Ace suggests,

"Good idea," he nods in response, "I'm just getting worried, the way he watches her is unnatural, and she's scared of him,"

"You noticed that too?"

"Yeah, he approached her at the dance while I was getting her a drink." The teacher comes in effectively halting their conversation as the lessons task is set out, after they continue discussing things about Grant in hushed voices before going their separate ways to their next classes.

"I need a favour Vivi," Ace voices as soon as she sits down, she looks at him questioningly, "I need to know how many classes (Y/N) shares with Grant," she frowns at him,

"If it was anyone else asking, I'd be concerned you're being kind of stalker like," she shakes her head and holds up her hand to stop any response Ace would have, "but, I know you care about her a lot and this is about Grant right?" receiving a nod from the raven haired boy Vivi continues, "I don't like him, you know she had that panic attack moments after he came into homeroom,"

"So, he was the cause of it," Ace sighs annoyed, "has she spoken to you about him?"

"No, she just keeps pushing it off, saying they just knew one another from Sabaody, but it's definitely more than that... maybe I can ask Camie, but I feel like that's a betrayal of (Y/N)'s trust,"

"Yeah... for now we just watch him, and keep him away from (Y/N)," Ace leans back on his stool, "do you know if he's in any of her classes?"

"Yes, he's in our English and History classes, I think he's in her Geography class too. I'll ask Killer, he's in that class," Ace thanks her and falls deep in thought as the class begins.

It's later that week when he spots (Y/N) alone between classes at her locker, he also spots Grant. Grant slows his paces as Nami appears by her side and Ace takes this moment to drop an arm over the guys shoulders, "Let's talk," not giving the guy room to argue he drags him off away from the girls,

"What the hell man," Grant shrugs him off, "what do you want?"

"I'll be asking the questions here, not you. What do you want with (Y/N)?"

"Can't two old friends just talk?" Grant smirks,

"No, because we both know that's bull, you two aren't friends," Ace crosses his arms over his chest,

"Oh, she told you about it has she?" Grant leans against the wall and his smirk deepens as Ace twitches, "or maybe not, I bet she hasn't. For all you know, I could be her boyfriend,"

"An idiot wouldn't even believe that," Ace growls, "why are you watching her?"

"Because it unnerves her?" the guy shrugs and chuckles, "she's amusing to watch as she plays friends with you guys," he shakes his head, "piece of advice for ya pal, she isn't what you think, and it's kind of pitiful how you guys think she's..." Ace slams his fist into the wall beside his head, sparks flying off him and effectively shutting Grant up,

"How about I give you a piece of advice hmm pal? stay the fuck away from her," he then steps back, giving Grant a warning glare before walking off.

"So... what was that about?" Ace jumps slightly as Sabo comes up beside him,

"What was what about?" acting innocently he continues walking,

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the scorch marks on the wall back there,"

"I didn't leave scorch marks," Ace rebuffs then scowls at Sabo's triumphant grin, "look I can't explain it right now okay?"

"Fine, but I expect some answers at some point."

That evening Luffy drags (Y/N) over to the Newgate house, wanting her to play games with him. Upon entering however, Thatch corners the four of them at the door, "Excellent, you brought extra hands,"

"Uh..." (Y/N) glances at Ace only to receive a shrug,

"These still need filling out," he holds up a pile of papers,

"Oh, the invites," Sabo mutters, Luffy groans and tries to make a run for it but Marco is behind Thatch ready to catch him,

"Now, now, it's a family tradition to fill these in together yoi," he chuckles carrying the wriggling boy into the dining room,

"You don't mind helping us out do you (Y/N)?" Thatch asks the girl,

"Well... sure, I've got nothing better to do," she shrugs,

"Great," Thatch shoves the invites into Sabo's hands before wrapping his arms around (Y/N) and Ace's shoulders and corralling them into the dining room where Marco is threatening to tie Luffy to the chair unless he does some, "You'll stay for dinner too yes, Pops would love it,"

"Ah, sure..." Thatch makes the pair sit next to one another,

"Ace will show you the ropes," Ace narrows his eyes at his eldest brother, feeling like he's up to something,

"So, what are these for?" she asks as Thatch moves off, Ace blinks then snaps his gaze to you,

"I completely forgot... I'm so used to everyone just knowing because we do it every year," he rubs his face, "we have an annual Halloween party,"

"Every year..." she looks over the large number of invites, "how big of a party...?"

"Well we invite all our friends, which when you take Luffy into account, that's a lot, Pop's also has people he invites every year. You'll come right?" her gaze flicks up to his and she looks thoughtful, "You don't have to dress up if you don't want to,"

"Would be kind of wrong to go to a Halloween party without being in costume," she chuckles, "I've never been to one before... haven't exactly been to a party, not since I was seven," she shrugs,

"Does that mean you'll come?" a slow smile stretches across his face,

"Sure, just don't be surprised if I run away back home if it gets a little too much,"

"We can't have that," Ace clucks his tongue, "If it gets too much, just run to me instead," he grins cheekily and chuckles as you roll your eyes,

"Hmm, we'll see,"

"Aww, aren't the two of them just adorable together," Thatch nudges Marco, grinning from his seat,

"I don't know, I don't really want to be witness to our brother's lame ass flirting with his girlfriend yoi," Marco snickers as (Y/N) blushes a little, Ace scowls at his older brothers about to lay into them when Luffy perks up,

"Wait, (Y/N) is Ace's girlfriend? Since when? Why didn't you tell me?" he pouts looking hurt,

"That's because we're not Luffy," Ace quickly answers, (Y/N) nodding in agreement, Luffy frowns then,

"Why not then?" he asks innocently,

"Yeah Ace, why not yoi?" Marco snickers, Ace sends him a death glare as (Y/N) turns a brighter red,

"Cut it out, you'll confuse him,"

"Seems you're avoiding the question," Thatch hums in amusement,

"Do you not want to be Ace's girlfriend (Y/N)?" Luffy turns to (Y/N), "Are you okay, you're really red. Are you ill!" Luffy starts to worry,

"No, no, I'm fine Luffy honest," (Y/N) pushes at his hands as the boy tries to check her temperature, Sabo meanwhile is laughing his head off at the situation. Everything calms down though as 'Pops' walks in. Ace shares a small apologetic smile with her as they continue with the invites, she returns it with a small, still slightly flustered, smile of her own.


	16. Chapter 16

You stared at yourself in the mirror, readjusting the witch's hat for the fifth time, "Stop messing with it, it looks fine," you turn to frown at your aunt in the doorway,

"Maybe I shouldn't go..." you grumble looking back to the mirror and the old black gothic style dress you were wearing. You had acquired it through Zoro of all people, his adoptive sister was more than happy to help you out. Apparently, she owned a lot of this style of clothing.

"You're going, you can't let your friends down, besides, you look adorable as a witch," she chuckles, "don't cast too many spells on those boys," she winks,

"Aunt Shakky..." you groan,

"Sorry, sorry," she comes into the room and wraps and arm around your shoulders, "you don't have to go if you don't want to, but you will be on your own here most of tonight, and I'd rather you be with your friends than alone, especially since Rayleigh is out of town," she frowns a little, your uncle had been having some trouble with the shop and now had had to go on an impromptu trip for supplies to fix the problems,

"I'll go," you give her a small smile, "besides, if I don't turn up, I'm pretty sure Luffy or Nami will come and drag me out anyway,"

"Hmm, or Ace," she gives you squeeze and a teasing smile when you roll your eyes, "have fun, I'm just a call away if you need me,"

"I'll be fine,"

"I mean it, if anything serious comes up, I can leave work, I'll just close early,"

"Don't worry," you shake your head, "I don't want you to have to close the bar because of me, I have the boys next door I'm sure they'll have my back if something, god forbid, does happen, which it won't," she gives you another hug before leaving you to it. You take one last look at your reflection before giving yourself a shake, "Come on (Y/N), it's just a party, a party with all your friends, it will be fun," yeah, you weren't that confident. Slumping you start to reconsider once again when your phone pings, you pick it up, reading the message with a small snicker,

_Freckles – Get your cute ass here now! I can feel you trying to chicken out of it from over here._

_(Y/N) - Cute ass?_

_Freckles – Don't make me come and get you, because you know I will._

_(Y/N) - Relax, I'm coming now._

You slip your phone into a small black bag and head out. Your nerves forgotten as you find Ace waiting for you, he's leant against the fence that runs between the houses, "About time," he grins, "you look enchanting," he takes your hand as you come around to his side and kisses it while wiggling his eyebrows, you roll your eyes but play along with his silliness,

"Why thankyou good sir," you curtsey a little and he grins wider, you notice the fake fangs, "So, a vampire lord?" you give him a once over as he pulls you closer and links your arm with his,

"Don't worry, I won't bite," a wicked mischievous gleam flashes through his onyx gaze, "unless you want me to," a bubble of laughter rises out of you at that and he guides you towards the house. Your eyes widen as you get inside, you thought you were prepared for the number of people, considering you had helped with writing the invites, "Yeah, we seem to have more every year," Ace chuckles noting your expression,

"Everyone really gets into the whole costume thing, don't they?" you raise a brow at him, he nods with a smile,

"It's fun," suddenly you're spun away from him and twirled up into the air. You yelp and grab onto the shoulders of the person who has effectively picked you up,

"(Y/N) look how much you've grown!" your eyes narrow at the voice and look down with a scowl, "No longer a baby, but a beautiful young lady,"

"Put, me, down, Shanks," you glare at the red head who just decides to hug you instead while turning to Ace,

"Isn't my (Y/N) just the cutest when she's irritated," he hugs you tightly,

"I can kick higher than your shin now," you warn him, Shanks pouts at you,

"You wouldn't do that, you love me, I was your favourite troupe commander," Ace looks very confused but helps you out and pulls you out of Shanks' hug,

"No, you were just the only one who didn't care when I kicked them,"

"They just didn't understand it as affection," Shanks chuckles,

"You're still as stupid as I remember," you shake your head,

"But you love me," he coos, he's then pulled away by his friend Benn,

"Leave the kid alone," Benn gives you a small smile before continuing to pull the red head away,

"I didn't know you knew Shanks," Ace comments, you shrug and respond simply,

"Pirate camp,"

"Okay, what is pirate camp, because Luffy has mentioned that before too," he frowns and you giggle,

"It's a summer camp my uncle runs, although I believe Shanks is running it more these days, I went there every year until I was ten, I met Luffy there because Shanks brought him to it,"

"Ohh, now things make sense."

The night continued on; you were having a lot of fun. Ace stayed close by at all times and you were grateful, you were a little overwhelmed but were handling it well. You got pulled into dancing with Nami and Vivi for a while and even had time to talk with Shachi, you pointed out to him that Law's costume couldn't be classed as a costume in your opinion. He was dressed as a doctor, and as you explained, because he already acts like one it can't be a costume. Said person wasn't amused when you both pointed it out to him. You played some party games with your friends, Ace dragging you away to hide with him when Nami decided everyone should play seven minutes in heaven. You were glad he did so. You also managed to thank Zoro's sister Perona, before being pulled into a conversation with Thatch, Marco and Pops, Newgate had insisted you call him Pops.

"Enjoying the party lass?" Pops asks while patting the seat beside him, you sit down a little nervously but give him a bright smile,

"Yes, I've never experienced anything quite like it,"

"You've been looking after her haven't you Ace?" Thatch asks pulling his brother into a one-armed hug,

"Of course, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

"Sure it was only as a friend?" Marco snickers, "you can barely leave the girl alone yoi,"

"Can you blame him though Marco?" Thatch adds on as Ace glares at his brothers, "Having a cute little thing like (Y/N) on his arm," they continued to tease Ace until he snaps at them. Pops just chuckles merrily,

"Don't mind them none lass, it's just harmless teasing. Though my boy is rather fond of you Gurarararara," you simply turned red as you wanted to hide in embarrassment, Ace meanwhile had gotten into a scuffle with his brothers, that only ended when Luffy spotted it and with a shout of,

"DOG PILE!" he pounced on all three of his brothers.

You stayed late after the party and helped clean up a little, even as the brothers tried to dissuade you, minus Luffy because he was passed out near what remained of a buffet table. Afterwards, Ace watched you as you walked to your door. You smiled brightly as you head to your room, throwing your phone on the dresser, you grab a fresh towel and decide to take a shower, because someone had accidentally spilt their drink on you at some point, not a lot but enough that it was sticky and you didn't want to sleep like that. You kept going over the events of the night in your head, you haven't had that much fun in as long as you can remember, a part of you wondered if it was too good to be true but for once, you didn't want to think negatively. You had fun with your friends, it was a great night and nothing was going to ruin it now. It's as you exit the shower that you hear something out of place in the quiet house, the shatter of glass, frowning a little you creep closer to your bedroom while wrapping the towel tightly around yourself. Voices. You freeze. Your heartrate picks up as multiple voices filter quietly up the stairs, you instantly recognise Grant's voice and dash into your room as quietly as possible. You gulp and try to keep your breathing steady but panic is starting to rise, you grab your phone and hide in your closet. You pull your knees up to your chest as you hear footsteps on the stairs. You fiddle with your phone and call the first person that comes to your mind as your fear rises,

"Hey, did you forget something?" Ace's voice seems so loud and you almost sob as the floorboards at the top of the stairs creak,

"Help..." you croak out in a whisper before holding the phone tightly against you. Hoping and wishing that whoever was on the landing didn't hear you.


	17. Chapter 17

**Ace**

He watched her as she headed home and waited until the door closed before turning back inside himself, meeting two grinning faces, "Making sure your girlfriend got home okay yoi?"

"Aww, ain't he just adorable," he glares at his two older brothers, "surprised he didn't walk her right to the door,"

"Will you just cut it out," he huffs and pushes past them, "and for the last time she isn't my girlfriend,"

"Yet," they both practically sing bringing a small annoyed blush to the freckled face,

"Though you might as well be with all the flirting going on between you both," Thatch points out,

"When you gonna tell her yoi?" both older brothers follow the raven-haired boy as he storms towards the stairs, Sabo carrying a dozing Luffy on his back pauses in the hallway as Ace passes him,

"Tell who what?" the blonde enquires,

"Tell (Y/N) that he's in loooove," Thatch teases then quickly dodges a flaming fist as Ace comes flying back to them, "Hey! Not in the house!" a small fight breaks out between them until Marco manages to pin Ace,

"Enough yoi! Before Pops hears," and then they all tense as the clearing of someone's throat alerts them all to the intimidating presence accompanying them in the hallway, slowly they all turn to find their 'Pops' standing with his arms folded and looking disapprovingly at the brothers, a chuckling Shanks is stood a couple steps behind him,

"What's going on here?"

"Nothing," the four brothers all say together, Luffy makes a sleepy grunt and mumbles something about meat, effectively breaking the tension because it sets Shanks off laughing loudly and eventually everyone's laughing,

"W..What's going on? Why's everyone laughing?" Luffy mumbles sleepily rubbing at his eye, this makes everyone laugh more. Ace feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, pulling it out his grin widens when (Y/N)'s name flashes up. He moves into one of the rooms where its quieter before answering,

"Hey, did you forget something?"

"Help..." her voice stutters out quietly, Ace tenses up, the clear fear in her voice sent a chill down his spine. Throwing his phone to the side not caring where it lands, he runs out of the room, shoving past his brothers and out the front door in a rush,

"Ace!" one of them calls after him but he doesn't listen, he jumps the fence between the houses just about barely hearing his brothers rushing after him. He launches up the steps and pauses at the front door of her house, it's been broken open, he clenches his fist sparks flickering over his skin. Thatch reaches his side and takes in the scene of the doors broken window; he grips Ace's shoulder and whispers, "calmly and quietly," he then looks to Marco who's behind him and points up to the roof, Marco nods. Ace pulls out of Thatch's grip and steps over the broken glass and into the hallway, flames now licking up his arm, sounds from the kitchen catch the pairs attention, Thatch indicates silently that he will check that out and nods Ace towards the stairs. Quietly they creep along as Ace also tries to tame his flames. A creek as he hits the halfway point sounds loudly throughout the house, Ace cringes and Thatch pauses at the kitchen door, a hissed out 'mate is that you?' from upstairs has Ace charging up the rest,

"Shit! Mate leg it!" Ace hits the top of the stairs coming face to face with some guy decked out all in black and wearing a mask, the flames are now over both his clenched fists, "fuck..." Ace launches himself at the guy, ramming his shoulder into his gut. They both crash to the ground where he shoves Ace off him and over his head before pushing up off the floor and back to his feet, Ace rolls to his feet spinning around to grab the guy again but he's already running, finding the stairs now blocked by Sabo who has also come to assist he keeps running, and continues he does, right out the window at the end of the upstairs hallway shocking the brothers. Both teens run to the window and look down to see the intruder legging it, he doesn't get very far when Luffy's stretched out arms wrap around him soon followed by the energetic boy's body sending them to the dirt, a moment later Thatch was running towards them to help pin the thrashing trespasser down. The two of them look at one another,

"Let's check the rooms, there could be more," Sabo suggests, they check each room quickly, finding no one else. Ace frowns, Thatch comes up the stairs,

"Pops has called the cops, Marco is looking for the other guy who ran before I could grab him," he looks between Ace and Sabo, "where's (Y/N)?"

"That's what I'm worried about, we haven't seen anyone else," Ace frowns deeper,

"She could be hiding," Sabo pulls out his phone, "maybe if I ring her, she will know it's safe to come out," he tries and furrows his brow, "it says it's busy,"

"She must still be connected to my phone," Ace face palms, he just had to throw his phone before racing over,

"Let's just keep looking, she has to be somewhere," Thatch says calmly. And so, they split up, Ace checks the bathroom before moving onto her room. He looks around, her costume is thrown on the end of the bed, he looks back to the doorway, the bathroom mirror had been semi steamed up so she must have had a shower. His gaze snaps to the floor and a relieved smile crosses his face noting the wet foot prints, they go towards the dresser and then towards the closet. Moving quickly over there he opens the doors to find her curled up, knees pulled tightly against her chest, face pressed against the top of her knees. She's still just in a towel, he crouches down and reaches out a hand slowly only to pause briefly. Eyes gazing over a healing scar, still red it was the size of the tip of his pinkie finger. To him, it reminded him somewhat of a gunshot scar. Shaking off the thought he places a hand gently on her shoulder,

"(Y/N) ..." he says softly, she flinches back, her head snapping up, teary (e/c) eyes staring at him in panic and fear, "It's okay..." he holds his hands up, "it's me, you're okay, they're g..." he grunts as he's knocked backwards as she throws her arms around his neck and lets out a sob. He quickly wraps his arms around her cold trembling form and holds her tightly against him, "it's okay, you're okay," he whispers to her,

"A..ace... I... I was..." she presses her face into the crook of his neck, sirens could be heard now, "I was so scared," he just holds her tighter, Sabo appears at the doorway, when he spots them both he sighs with relief,

"Smoker's here," he says quietly, Ace nods and waits for Sabo to leave again while keeping most of (Y/N)'s body hidden. He then stands bringing her with him easily. Glancing around he spots his jacket on the back of her desk chair and grabs it, wrapping it around her shoulders,

"Pops called the police, they'll most likely want to ask you some questions, do you feel up to it?" she just shakes her head, "okay, since it's Smoker we shouldn't have too much trouble getting him to back off for now," a few moments later Sabo returns,

"Smoker wants to see us all," he informs, "he's downstairs," he then disappears again, Ace looks down at (Y/N),

"Why don't you put some clothes on, I'll wait just outside the door okay?" he hesitantly leaves her and leans against the wall outside. He only has to wait a few minutes before she shuffles out wearing grey sweats and a white tee, his jacket also around her, she timidly touches his arm, he quickly wraps it around her since she's still trembling, "come on, let's get this done with as quickly as we can," together they head downstairs. Smoker is waiting in the living room with Ace's brothers,

"Right," Smoker nods towards the sofa, "let's get this done quickly as its late for us all," Ace and (Y/N) sit down, Luffy who was already sitting there pulls the girl into a hug. Once she's released, she grabs Ace's hand, he gives hers a little squeeze. Smoker only asks a few questions, mainly to the boys asking them to describe the intruders and how many there were before looking at (Y/N) and frowning, "Miss (L/N), I took the curtesy of reading your file, I don't want to push you to answering anything right now after your ordeal, but do you think this may be connected to that past event?" she completely tenses up, "You don't have to..."

"Yes," she mutters out quietly, her grip on Ace's hand tightening. Everyone looks to her, "they were involved with it," Ace watches as she subconsciously grips her right shoulder with her free hand and frowns deeply. He rubs his thumb over her knuckles and she looks to him, giving her a small encouraging smile, she seems to relax,

"Right," Smoker makes a note with a deep frown, "thank you Miss (L/N). Your guardians have been informed, and we are going to post an officer outside to keep an eye on things,"

"Thank you," she responds timidly then jumps as Newgate places his hand on top of her head,

"She'll be staying the night over at ours, Rayleigh is on his way back but won't be home until late morning. Shakky is handling a situation that occurred at the bar and will be home as soon as she can," he gives the girl a fatherly smile, "So I suggested you come stay with us, so that they both don't need to worry and rush things."

Soon after the boys and (Y/N) were sitting in the Newgate's games room, Luffy was playing some random game with Sabo. (Y/N) slumps against Ace's side having fallen asleep, Thatch opens his mouth only to get a glare from Ace, "If you so much as utter a word..." Ace whispers out in warning, Thatch just snickers, "and don't think I don't see you Marco," he turns the glare on his other brother who was attempting to pull out his phone to take a sneaky pic,

"What'cha gonna do about it yoi? Don't wanna be waking up your girlfriend now do you?" Marco chuckles quietly, Luffy frowns at this,

"But I thought..." Sabo covers the boy's mouth and shushes him,

"Luffy you're so loud, you will wake up (Y/N)," he admonishes, Luffy huffs and grumbles turning back to their game,

"I just wanna know if she is his girlfriend or not, because that would mean she's like our sister," the boy is pouting now, Sabo shakes his head and Ace groans. The two elder ones shared a look before snickering together,

"You two just shut up," Ace sighs while wrapping his arm around you gently. Sadly, they don't, they torment him until finally, all of them doze off in their positions around the room.


	18. Chapter 18

You felt like hell by Monday morning, news travelled fast around town and now everyone knew your house had been broken into and everyone wanted to know about it. You tried to ignore the questions, the stares. It was bad enough that your Uncle had been pestering you with questions once he found out you had said the guys in the house Saturday night were from _that_ incident. You hadn't mentioned any names though and he could tell you knew exactly who it was too, but you weren't saying. You don't know why you were keeping it a secret that Grant had been in the house, he had been the one that had gotten away and if you just told someone they would handle it straight away. But you also knew that it was your word against his and he would likely already have an alibi.

At lunch you hoped to avoid everyone by going to the roof. Dropping down and resting your back against the wall beside the door you look up into the clear sky and pull your jacket closer around you. You let out a long sigh and close your eyes, ignoring the phone buzzing in your pocket, you couldn't however, ignore the large shadow that suddenly moved over you, opening your eyes you blink up at the large form looking down at you, red hair, eyeliner and lipstick, your locker neighbour,

"You know they're all looking for you," the red head comments,

"I wanted to be alone, is that a crime?" you quip back, he smirks a little,

"To some people, yeah," he chuckles before dropping down beside you, his blonde friend taking a seat in front of you both, "have you even eaten?"

"Do I need to answer that question?" your question makes him laugh again, two other boys turn up on the roof, "I'm guessing this is 'your spot' then?"

"Only when I want to avoid Bonney," he shrugs, "this is Heat and Wire," he nods to the two new comers who kind of simply stare at you for a moment, Heat then offers you a smile whereas Wire simply starts eating his food, "guys this is (Y/N),"

"Huh, not calling me little mouse today?" you turn to him a little and raise a brow,

"Oh, you'll always be little mouse to me, but only I get to call you that," Kid winks and you roll your eyes,

"Are you like this with all the girls?"

"That would require him being able to talk with girls," Wire smirks a little gaining a glare from his friend,

"What do you mean by that?" you ask confused, looking between them, seeing as everyone except yourself and Kid found that funny,

"Kid can't talk to girls," Wire tells you; you stare at the guy for a solid minute before looking questioningly at Kid then back at the others,

"He talks to me, and Bonney, though I can't understand why with her," you shrug and Heat snickers at the comment, "you're not shy..." you have turned back to Kid, "surely..." the fiery haired boy scowls at you,

"Of course not!" he growls,

"Most girls are just intimidated by him," Killer informs you softly, you hum and give Kid a once over,

"It's because you're a giant," you nod, "clearly,"

"Your just small," Kid grumbles,

"No, I'm average, don't mock my height just because your giantness scares away all the weak-willed girls," you tease,

"Girls like that I'm big," he smirks at you, you give him a disapproving glower before responding with a touch of sass,

"It's a shame the angry emo vibe you've got going is giving those girls the impression your over compensating for something," you make a subtle nod down, "so I guess no one will know if you truly match up to the rest of you, well, unless someone's brave enough to ask Bonney," you give him a sweet smile as his friends crack up,

"I like this one, can we keep her," Heat chuckles,

"I agree, she reminds me of Speedy," Wire adds and Killer gives a small nod, Kid is scowling,

"I'm not usually like this, he just brings it out of me," you shrug but smile amused that your annoying Kid a little, "who's Speedy?"

"No one," Kid grumbles before shoving one of his wrapped up sandwiches at you, you stare at it confused, "you need to eat something or you'll collapse again and I'm not getting the walking dead for you again," you snort out a laugh,

"First off, I didn't collapse, it was a panic attack, and second, walking dead? Is that what you call Law?"

"Yeah, he looks half dead half the time," he shrugs, "you got a better name for him?"

"I call him captain sarcasm," you inform him while unwrapping the sandwich, Killer places one of his two bottles of water in front of you and then even Heat and Wire add a couple of snacks in front of you, an apple and an energy bar, "um... thank you... you don't have to..."

"Just take them," Kid orders, you sigh and shake your head before taking a bite of the sandwich then looking at it in surprise, it was pretty good, "you look surprised,"

"It's good,"

"Course it is, I made it," you have to look to the others to see if he's telling the truth, slowly you look back to him,

"Well I'm even more surprised, so, who's Speedy?" he glares hard at you, but you simply stare back and take another bite. Taking a page out of Luffy's book, you just stare and eat and wait, after a couple of minutes he breaks and groans looking away, at this point Killer leans forwards a little,

"Speedy is, was his next-door neighbour," you blink at the blonde, something about this sounded familiar, "She's his best friend, she moved out of town at the beginning of summer," then it clicks, Penguin had told you about her,

"Oh?" you glance to the side at the red head, he's frowning down at his own sandwich with a dark depressed look in his eyes, "So there's another girl that exists that can put up with you, wow," he snaps his gaze to you with a heated glare, "see you're not so bad, clearly only the best kinda girls can see past," you wave your hand indicating him as a whole, "all this," you then throw him a teasing wink,

"Think very highly of yourself do ya little mouse?" he smirks a little, you internally sigh with relief, you didn't like the look that had entered his eyes a few seconds ago. It was clear that this Speedy moving away has affected him pretty hard,

"Not particularly, but then, no one's perfect," you shrug, "but damn, this sandwich is, tell me how you made it dude?"

"Nope, secret recipe," Kid shakes his head with a laugh, as you continue with your back and forth banter, you don't miss the thankful smiles on the other threes faces.

Later that day, once you were at home, your uncle calls you down wanting to talk with you, you prepared yourself mentally for a repeat of the questions he had been grilling you with since yesterday.

"Take a seat," Rayleigh nods to the sofa from his chair looking rather serious. Slowly you sit down, "Don't look at me like that," he frowns, "you're all tensed up as if I'm about to interrogate you,"

"Aren't you?" you raise a brow,

"No, for the moment I will put the subject of the break in on the back burner, this is about the visit to Sabaody this weekend," you sit up straighter, you had almost forgot, almost but not completely, you were getting to go see your mother in hospital for the first time since moving. You missed her so much and talking over the phone simply wasn't enough, the longest you had ever gone without seeing her before now was three days at most so you were excited to see her again. The look on your Uncles face however sends your stomach in knots, "We're going to need to postpone it,"

"What!?" you practically screech, "Why?!"

"Shakky has a seminar she needs to attend, and with how things are at the shop at the moment, I had to come home early this weekend so I wasn't able to secure the materials and so I need to head back there this weekend while the guy is still there, so I won't be able to take you,"

"Then I'll go myself, I've got the car..."

"(Y/N) it's too long a drive for you, and you're not going back to Sabaody alone, not after the events of the weekend, your mother and I are in agreement on this," you stare at him for a moment then shake your head,

"But you promised... you promised when I came here that I could go see her..."

"I know (Y/N) and you will, but it will just need to wait till Christmas,"

"No!" you slam to your feet, you know your being ridiculous, but you just couldn't help it anymore,

"(Y/N)," he sighs,

"You dragged me half way across the country to this damned town! Where I knew no one! You promised me I'd still get to see her but you just expect me to wait! And what if something comes up at Christmas? What if something happens and she takes a turn for the worst? I haven't seen her in over two months!" you storm out of the room as angry tears start flowing, you don't want to listen to him anymore. You head to the front door after grabbing your keys,

"Where are you going?" your Uncle asks rushing after you as you stomp out of the house,

"Anywhere but here!"

"(Y/N)," he tries to stop you but you slap at the hand he reached out to you with,

"No! I hate you!" you shout out, you don't really mean that, you're just upset, and with everything that's happened, it has taken its toll on you. You cover your mouth as your gaze meets your uncles seeing you've caused him pain with your words and immediately regretting it. Then, suddenly your car keys are taken from you grip and tossed to your uncle,

"How about I take this one for a little bit," Thatch places his hands on your shoulders before giving your Uncle a questioning look which he gets a small nod to, then he steers you towards the Newgate house. You're both met by a confused Marco as you enter, "in here sweetheart," he continues to guide you all the way into the kitchen and makes you sit on a stool at the breakfast bar, before turning to Marco and quietly asking him where the others are,

"Sabo's upstairs doing homework, the other two are at the park yoi, what's going on?"

"Nothing to worry about," Thatch then moves around the kitchen, you just sit there staring at the counter as more tears start to fall,

"Um... Thatch..." Marco moves closer to his brother and hisses, "she's crying yoi,"

"Then comfort her," he responds,

"I'm a horrible person," you mumble bringing both men to look at you,

"No, you're not darling, emotions just ran high is all," Thatch then kicks Marco in the leg and nods towards you giving him a pointed look, Marco winces and hops over to sit beside you,

"What makes you think you're a horrible person yoi?" that earns him a glare from his brother, you turn and look up at Marco with teary eyes,

"I said I hated him... I don't hate him, he looks after me, he makes sure I'm happy and he gave me a car... and... I said I hated him," you then drop your head into your hands and sob,

"Dude... I don't know how to handle this yoi..." Marco hisses at Thatch,

"Just give her a hug," Thatch hisses back as he pulls out a pan, Marco awkwardly wraps an arm around you and he instantly tenses as you hug him fully, your crying getting harder, he pats your back,

"I'm sure he knows you don't hate him..." he attempts, "do you mind me asking what caused you to say it yoi?" a silent argument of stares goes on between the two eldest Newgate boys after he asks that,

"He said he can't take me to see my mother this weekend," you sniffle,

"Your mother?" both of them question, you nod,

"She's in the hospital back in Sabaody, we had plans to go visit next weekend, before the thanksgiving rush. I haven't seen her since before I moved here, I've never gone this long without seeing her..."

"You must miss her," Marco says quietly, you nod and hug him tighter, he's almost as warm as Ace is, everything is quiet for a while until the clink of a plate being set on the counter in front of you has you perking your head up a little, Thatch gives you a warm smile as you stare at the plate of pancakes topped with cream, chocolate and strawberries, he also holds out a box of tissues,

"Now dear, why don't you dry those pretty eyes of yours and enjoy this little treat. You leave this problem for me to handle," you pull away from Marco and take the tissues frowning a little, "don't you worry, just eat up, it will help you feel better I promise," he then pulls out his phone and starts typing away, Marco cringes down at his shirt, you both look at it and you also cringe, blushing in embarrassment realising you have left it wet with tears and snot,

"Sorry," you mutter,

"Don't worry yoi," he waves it off and gives you a smile, "sometimes you just got to cry it out. I'll just go change quickly," he slips off his stool then points at your plate, "I'd eat that before Luffy returns, otherwise you will lose it," he then heads out of the kitchen and upstairs. You wipe away the last of your tears and blow your nose before beginning to eat the pancakes. Thatch keeps a simple conversation going with you, mainly asking how you were enjoying living in the town and how school was going. By the time you were finished and he had cleaned and put away everything the front door slams open and Luffy's shouts fill the house,

"I want meat! OW! ACE!"

"DON'T SHOUT DOWN MY EAR THEN YOU IDIOT!" Ace shouts at his younger brother, you giggle when Thatch rolls his eyes, they are still shouting at one another as they come crashing into the kitchen. Both of them freeze though upon seeing you,

"(Y/N)!" Luffy grins widely then races towards you, Ace however grabs the back of his shirt,

"You need a shower before going near anyone else!" he then shoves him towards the direction of the stairs, "I'm sure she will still be here after your suitably mud free," Luffy pouts and looks at you pleadingly,

"I'll still be here, promise," you give him a little smile, he begrudgingly heads up. Ace steps into the kitchen and washes his hands at the sink,

"Dare I ask?" Thatch enquires,

"We ran into Law at the park, he was walking Bepo, and well..." he chuckles lightly, "you know how it rained yesterday... well there's some really big puddles about and well... let's just say Luffy wasn't the only one covered. I'm pretty sure if looks could kill, Luffy would-be stone-cold dead, Law wasn't impressed,"

"So, the dog also got muddy?" Thatch wonders aloud,

"Oh, no, Bepo is still sparkling white, Law however," he shrugs with a snicker and drops onto the stool Marco had recently vacated, "cut our park trip short," he then looks at you and frowns slightly clearly picking up on your recent bout of crying, "you okay?" you give him a little shrug then a nod,

"Course she's fine, she's keeping me company, even tried one of my new recipes," his phone pings and after looking at it, a smile forms, "well that sorts things out," he turns to you, "your uncle has agreed with my suggestion,"

"Your suggestion?" you frown,

"Yes, I suggested I could take you this weekend, that way you would be able to see your mother and you wouldn't be alone either, he's agreed to it, but I think to be safe you should have a little heart to heart with him," you jump off the stool and run around the breakfast bar island to his side and tackle him with a hug,

"Thank you," you could cry again,

"No need for thanks," he chuckles and returns the hug while glancing at Ace and grinning, "I couldn't leave our Ace's little girlfriend all upset, now could I?" you knew he was just jesting to tease Ace, still it brought a blush to your face, you glance over at Ace to find him also blushing lightly,

"I told you to stop that," he scowls, but then a slow mischievous grin flows across his face, he sniffs the air and then grins even wider before yelling at the top of his voice, "LUFFY! THATCH MADE (Y/N) PANCAKES AND NONE FOR YOU!" Thatch stares at his younger brother baffled for a moment, but seconds later, the thundering sound of someone part running, part falling, part bouncing down the stairs can be heard, and a look of pure horror comes to the man's face. Ace launches himself across the breakfast bar island, sliding across it as if he's done it a thousand times, he grabs your hand and quickly pulls you out of the way and towards the games room as a half-naked and still very muddy Luffy launches himself at Thatch,

"I WANT PANCAKES TOO THATCH! MAKE ME SOME!" the boy wraps himself around Thatch chanting 'pancakes' and getting the oldest brother covered with bits of mud in the process,

"Luffy you need to shower first! And now I need a shower too!" Thatch scowls, snickering Ace pulls you away and into the games room,

"That was cruel," you point out,

"Maybe, but it was also funny hmm?" he raises a brow, and as you respond with a chuckle since you can't deny that he's right, he grins wide.


	19. Chapter 19

You and your Uncle had a long talk after Monday evening which had resulted in a few more tears on your behalf as you had never meant to hurt him. You had also come clean about the break in, telling him you were pretty sure it was Grant who had also been in the house. Now it was late Friday evening and the pair of you sat on the steps outside waiting for Thatch to turn up with the summer camps mini-bus, since the moment Luffy had heard his oldest brother was going to take you to Sabaody he instantly also wanted to come, which then caused Newgate to suggest all the boys go. Soon after, Luffy had pretty much invited half your friends too, he had tried to invite all of them much to Thatch's annoyance but luckily Law and Kid's groups were going to be busy so they couldn't come. Rayleigh suggested using one of the camps minibuses since they were currently being unused anyhow and should easily fit everyone in. You rest your head on your Uncles shoulder and chuckle as you watch Luffy being chased around the yard by Marco after the boy had pounced on the older blonde from a tree just in front of their house as he walked past.

"I don't think Luffy is going to cope with the long journey," Rayleigh notes, you snicker,

"Sabo has made sure to pack Luffy's switch and Sanji is bringing a boat load of snacks. That should occupy him for at least a couple hours," you grin,

"I wish you all luck for the extra ten hours after then," he pauses for a moment, "you'll be stopping overnight midway right?"

"Yep, at the usual place," there was a motel your Uncle always used when coming to visit you and your mother, you had also stayed there the few times you had come to visit your Uncle also. Moving your gaze over the group and watching as Ace and Sabo join in trying to catch Luffy now, you wish you had gotten to know them during those times. The minibus finally pulls up and Thatch blares the horn loudly, "God, I forgot they had a giant jolly roger on the side," you grin looking over the brightly painted minibus with the camps logo on,

"Yeah, Shanks repaints them every few years," Rayleigh smiles and both of you stand as Thatch calls out to everyone,

"Pile in everyone, I want to be at the half way point before it gets too late as we will be up bright and early tomorrow for the rest of the journey!"

"When are you setting off?" you ask your uncle,

"I'll be leaving once you lot have," he ruffles your hair, "be good kiddo and give your mother my love,"

"I will," you give him a tight hug before picking up your bag and running over to the others, Luffy is already in the bus, up at the front. Everyone piles in and with loud goodbyes and lots of waving to Rayleigh and Newgate, Thatch pulls away and your off.

Everyone was more than relieved when you announced that you would shortly be arriving in Sabaody, you were currently crossing the long suspension bridge to the island city and in the distance could already see the bubbles rising. You were sitting up front so you could direct Thatch once you exited off the bridge when Luffy leans over your seat and points ahead,

"Are those bubbles?" he asks,

"Luffy sit back down!" Thatch growls, Sabo yanks the boy back into his seat and you turn around slightly to look at them,

"Yeah, Sabaody is actually a massive mangrove forest. Each tree is effectively its own small island, the trees are Yarukiman Mangroves and there are seventy-nine in total. The bubbles are created by the sap the trees give off,"

"They make vehicles and stuff with them, don't they?" Ace says followed by a yawn, "I remember seeing them at the finals last year,"

"Yeah, we call them Bon Chari, don't be convinced into buying one though, you can only use them on the mangroves due to the specific atmosphere, anywhere else and they will just pop." You knew you had to warn them, because you got the feeling Luffy would want one to keep. You turn back to face the front, "You will need to head towards grove thirteen Thatch," you get a nod from the brunette and gaze out the window as you get closer and closer to the city, you feel a mix of excitement and nerves. Eventually with a few directions Thatch finally pulls up outside your house, and everyone piles out. Thatch looks shattered as he places a hand on Marco's shoulder,

"They are your responsibility now, I need a nap," Thatch yawns and follows you up to the door where you unlock it and wave him in,

"You can get some rest in my mother's room, sorry if it's a little dusty no one's been in there for a few months now," he gives you a smile and pats your head before going off upstairs to sleep. Everyone moves into your house and explores a little, you look at your watch, "Guys, I'm gonna head to the hospital now and see my mother for a while, when I come back, we can go to Sabaody Park if you like?"

"Isn't that an amusement park?" Robin asks,

"An amusement park! With rides?!" Luffy grins,

"Yep, I figured you might enjoy it," you chuckle,

"We should all go once Thatch has had a proper rest yoi," Marco suggests while dropping onto the sofa then looking over his shoulder at you, "don't go to the hospital alone, take at least one of the idiots with you,"

"Why do I feel like you're referring to us boys rather than all of us as a whole?" Sabo asks with a small scowl,

"Because I was," Marco grins,

"I'll come with you if you like?" Ace offers, you give him a grateful smile,

"OH! I want to meet (Y/N)'s mom too!" Luffy bounces over,

"I'd like to go shopping," Nami says,

"The mall is over on grove thirty, one sec, we have a map somewhere," you head into the kitchen and rifle through the junk drawer before finding it and bringing it back to Nami, "you can get there by bubble bus,"

"Brilliant, I can't wait to see what kind of clothes they have," Nami grins looking over the map, Sanji looks at it over her shoulder,

"I think I'll go out and get some ingredients to make dinner for everyone for when you return (Y/N)-chan," in the end the group splits up, Nami, Robin, Koala, Usopp and Franky are going to the mall, Sanji, Chopper, Brook and Marco are going shopping for food and Ace, Luffy, Vivi, Sabo and Zoro are joining you to see your mother, it was decided Zoro was coming with your group because no-one trusted him to not get lost with the other two groups, you just hoped the hospital would be okay with such a big group visiting. Leaving a note for Thatch and finding the spare keys so you could give one each to Nami and Marco you all split up.

"Will we get to meet Camie this weekend?" Vivi asks you as your group settles down on the bubble bus to grove twenty-four, Sabo had to practically hold Luffy down so that he wasn't bouncing around,

"Yeah, she's at work right now but she really wants to meet you guys, she's going to meet up with us at the park later,"

"Who's Camie?" Zoro asks suddenly zoning into your conversation,

"She's a friend of mine, I've known her since forever," you chuckle,

"I can't wait to meet her," Vivi squeals a little making you giggle more,

"Luffy stop! What are you trying to do!" Sabo shouts, everyone looks to see Luffy trying to sit on top of the bus, you cringe,

"Luffy you're going to get us kicked off," you groan. Luckily you weren't kicked off the bus, the driver found Luffy too amusing. Sabo and Ace however both gave the boy a stern lecture as you lead the way into the hospital, making sure to grab Zoro's arm as he turned the wrong way, "Dude... I swear your sense of direction is the worst, I said right and you turn left," the greenette just scowls and blushes a little making both you and Vivi giggle. You had to make sure you had permission to bring the lot of them into your mother's hospital room and were thankful when the doctor okayed it. Popping your head inside you see your mother is awake and reading, she pauses before snapping her head up and giving you a bright smile,

"Sweety, I wasn't expecting you to come until tomorrow,"

"Hey Mom," you smile back and step into the room, "I couldn't wait that long, I brought some friends with me,"

"Then get them in here, I want to meet them all," she ushers you towards her, you pause long enough to look back at the group,

"Be nice, and Luffy no jumping on beds," you give him a pointed look then move fully into the room. Walking over to your mother and giving her a long hug,

"I missed you baby girl," she hugs you back and kisses the top of your head, "now, introduce me to your friends," you sit on the edge of the bed next to her and introduce each of them,

"This is Vivi, Zoro, then Ace, Sabo and Luffy, they're brothers,"

"Oh, Newgate's boys, right?" your mother asks getting a nod from them, "Hmm, you know actually, Camie has told me about you Ace," you blink and look at her,

"What?"

"Apparently my little bird here talks about you a lot," great your mother is purposefully trying to embarrass you, Vivi snickers and Ace looks at you with a cheeky grin,

"Oh, does she now? Can I know what's being said?"

"I haven't a clue what she's on about," you shake your head, your mother wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you against her side,

"I think she might be a little smitten with you,"

"Mom!" you groan and cover your face, "must you be like this?" Vivi has had to turn away as she starts to giggle more,

"What does smitten mean?" Luffy asks innocently, drawing all eyes to him,

"It means she really likes him dear," your mother explains, Ace just grins wider at you and you give him a small glare, Luffy frowns then turns to Sabo,

"Okay, now I'm getting even more confused! Are they boyfriend and girlfriend or not?" the boy asks, Sabo throws you an apologetic smile as you try to hide against your chuckling mother, Vivi might be dying with laughter now, Sabo attempts to explain to Luffy but it just makes the boy more confused. You kind of wish to disappear when you suddenly notice something,

"Wasn't there another one of you before...?" your mother frowns, everyone looks around the room,

"Zoro..." he's vanished, you want to know how he does it,

"How..." Vivi shakes her head,

"We'll go look for him," Sabo suggests and drags Luffy with him towards the door, he pauses and bows a little to your mother, "It was a pleasure meeting you Ms (L/N)" he forces Luffy to also bow a little before they then leave, the four of you are quiet for a moment before Ace turns back to you,

"So, you've fallen for my charm?" he gives you his cheeky grin and you roll your eyes,

"If anyone fell, it was you," you reply with sass, "guess you were just lucky I was nice enough to catch you," you don't notice the smile your mother gives the pair of you. The conversation moves onto other topics, like school, your other friends and recent events to which has your mother thanking Ace for rushing to your side. Eventually Ace receives a call from Sabo letting him know they found Zoro and were outside, apparently, he had managed to end up in the next grove while looking for a bathroom, you say your goodbyes to your mother and the three of you head out. But not before your mother pulls you back briefly to whisper in your ear that she approves of Ace, chuckling when you blush brightly. You wave off Ace's questions when you exit the room red faced.

You met back up with everyone back home, had dinner made by Sanji with some assistance from Thatch and then all headed out to the amusement park. You spotted Camie instantly at the entrance and as soon as she spotted you, she rushed over and tackled you to the floor with a bone crushing hug making you laugh, "(Y/N)! I missed you so much!" and now she was crying. It takes a few minutes for her to calm down before you introduce her to everyone, she guessed right away who Ace was which made the freckled boy raise his eyebrow at you, you chose to avoid meeting his gaze. The group then all headed into the park. You watch Sanji dance around Camie as Ace drops an arm around your shoulders,

"So, how much do you talk about me to Camie then?" you peek up at his grin,

"Not anywhere near what is insinuated, don't get too big headed about it," you huff and turn your gaze back over the group, happy that the others like Camie even with her qwerkiness, Ace chuckles and pulls you closer to his side to whisper in your ear,

"I like the fact you talk about me to your best friend," he teases then presses a quick kiss to your temple making you blush. You elbow him in the gut making him laugh and stalk off towards the others willing your racing heart to calm down. Luffy then pretty much dictated where the group went, although they did have to split up at one point when they lost Zoro, again. Your small search group consisted of yourself, Ace, Luffy, Nami, Camie and Vivi.

"If we find a high vantage point, maybe we can spot him?" Camie suggests, she found it hilarious that Zoro getting lost was a common occurrence,

"How about that?" Luffy points, looking in the direction he indicates you grin,

"Yeah that could work out great Luffy," he was pointing to the Ferris wheel, you then note the three girls share a look and a nod, narrowing your eyes wondering what they were planning you barely have time to react to Luffy suddenly yanking you towards the ride. Stumbling after the boy you manage to not face plant the ground. The others rush after you and Nami takes control as you enter the queue,

"Okay, we will split into pairs so we don't crowd the carriages, I'll go with Luffy, then Vivi with Camie and lastly, Ace and (Y/N)," you snap your gaze to hers and she gives you a sly smile, before you can even say anything the others are agreeing it's a great plan. You gulp a little, this would be the first time you had been truly alone with Ace all day and it made you feel rather nervous after all the teasing. But you all head onto the ride in your pairs, you sit quietly staring out over the park as your carriage rises up,

"You okay with heights?" Ace asks, you turn to him and find him much closer than you had expected him to be,

"Y..yeah, I'm fine with heights, small crowded spaces though, nope," you chuckle nervously and he gives you a smile,

"Guess it's lucky we didn't all pile into this bubble carriage then," you both look around the small space, it could probably just about fit four at a squeeze,

"Yeah... somehow, I get the feeling Luffy would try to shake it..." you shudder at the thought and Ace nods glancing down at the carriage Luffy and Nami were in,

"He better behave," he sighs looking worried, you take his hand and squeeze it,

"I'm sure Nami can keep him under control," you tell him, he looks down at your hand for a moment then laces his fingers with yours before giving you a big smile,

"True, she's one of the few who can," he reaches up and tucks a stray strand of hair behind your ear with his free hand, before running his knuckles over your cheek, you blink at him as a heated blush very quickly rises. The pair of you simply stare at each other like that for a moment until the sounds of shouting registers in your ears,

"I see him! ZORO! ZORO UP HERE!"

"STOP IT YOUR GOING TO FALL OUT!"

"Please... please tell me that isn't Luffy halfway hanging out of their carriage?" Ace whispers closing his eyes, you take in a small shuddering breath before looking to the side and cringing,

"Um..." well, you couldn't exactly lie to him, Ace lets out a sigh, his hand dropping onto his knee, you both share a look,

"God, I really want to kiss you," he groans a little, "but doesn't seem appropriate with my kid brother trying to kill himself," you stare at him a little bewildered and turn a very deep shade of crimson. He lifts your hand and presses a quick kiss to your knuckles before standing as your carriage comes to the bottom, he pulls you up to your feet and leads you off.

You had to take a moment to compose yourself after that, not sure how exactly to fully react. Ace wanted to kiss you!? The freckled goon was currently shouting at his youngest brother as his other brothers rushed to them. You take a deep breath and move to the security officers making their way towards your group, hoping your mother's name still had some sway in the park. Once you managed to calm things down and promise the guards you would take your friends and leave you start heading back towards them when someone suddenly stops you,

"Ha, I knew I wasn't seeing things, look who it is guys," the tall wide shouldered boy grins down at you menacingly, you instantly feel sick, your eyes widen and you take a stumbled step away from him as his group of friends move in on you,

"Eww, what is this freak doing here? Come on Damien, why are you talking to it?" a girl turns her nose up at you,

"Aww don't be like that, (Y/N)'s our favourite plaything, we missed you," he coos at you, "Did you miss us (Y/N), come play with us," he grabs your arm and pulls you close to him, "we can have lots of fun like the last time,"

"N..no," you mumble and try to pull away from him, his gaze turns hard on you and you freeze in his grip,

"Now, now, be a good little girl (Y/N), you don't want to upset us now do you?" Damien asks with a low dangerous tone. A familiar strong arm wraps around your waist and your pulled away from the brute suddenly before being pushed towards Camie and Vivi, you stumble into their waiting arms. You glance back to see Ace squaring up to Damien, your friends shifting into position around you, the boys standing at his sides and the girls surrounding you almost like a secondary line of protection,

"Hey, easy, easy," Damien chuckles,

"Don't touch (Y/N)," Ace growls lowly,

"You wanting to start something pal?" Damien growls back, his friends all grinning and eyeing your friends, "Because I seriously don't mind putting you in your place, pirate," he spits on the ground at Ace's feet, Thatch quickly places a hand on Ace's shoulder,

"We're not looking for a fight," the brunette says calmly, "just a friendly piece of advice for you, (Y/N) is one of us, you cause her problems, it involves all of us then, so think on that before you try something. I won't always hold my brother back," he gives Damien a bright smile which clearly confuses the guy before turning to the group, "okay, time to head home," as your friends slowly back away and leave, Damien catches your eye one more time, he smirks a little at you before miming a gun with his hands and pointing at you. Then all his friends start laughing, Ace has also noted this and quickly pulls you into his side and leads you out of the park.

That night you have your worst nightmare yet. Your pretty sure your screaming and thrashing has woken everyone in the house and neighbourhood, Vivi who had been sharing a room with you hadn't known what to do. But she didn't need to, as some of your friends appeared at the bedroom door, Ace pushed through them, the only one willing to enter the critical range of your swinging and thrashing. He quickly got a hold of your arms before pinning you down,

"(Y/N) wake up!" he shouts, his voice manages to reach you and you snap awake, if he hadn't been pinning you down with his whole strength you would have head butted him. You lie there for a moment gasping for breath as your eyes clear and you realise Ace is hovering over you and that a few of your friends were at the door, Thatch was encouraging them to go back to sleep and Koala gently tugs Vivi out of the room and to the guest room where she is staying with Nami and Robin. Your whole body begins to tremble and the tears start to build up, Ace releases his grip on you for a moment, only to shift to lie beside you and pull you into his arms in a tight embrace, "it's okay, it was just a dream," he whispers, he glances over at the door and Thatch nods, closing the door almost the whole way and leaving the pair of you alone. You grip onto Ace's shirt and try to stop the tears but they keep coming, he rubs your back and keeps whispering nonsense to you until you finally calm down. The house becomes quiet except for the few snores of the boys who are sleeping downstairs, "You should try and get some more sleep," Ace suggests quietly and shifts to get up, but you cling tighter to him,

"Please... will you stay?" you mumble without looking at him, he kisses your forehead before settling back into position beside you,

"Course I will," you both lie there for some time, sleep never comes sadly. "Do you want to talk about it?" you don't respond at first, but eventually let out a shuddering breath and press your face into his chest,

"Seeing Damien at the park today made me think back to the last time I saw him," you mutter quietly, you don't know if Ace hears but you decide to keep going before you lose your nerve, "it happened during the football game final..." his grip on you suddenly tightens, "you probably heard at least something about it," you voice squeaks out a little, getting even quieter, "I... he..." you take a deep breath, "he pulled a gun on me..." you couldn't actually bring yourself to say the words, to say that he shot at you, the silence that follows is a little suffocating until Ace mutters,

"The scar on your shoulder...?" he pulls back a little to look at you, you nod and tug down the collar of your oversized t-shirt that you were using as a nightgown, revealing the scar willingly to someone for the first time,

"It wasn't a very powerful or big gun... but..."

"That doesn't make it any better or worse," Ace frowns, he gently runs a finger over the scar and you shiver, "sorry, did that hurt?"

"No, just sensitive," you shrug, "I only get pain when pressure is applied, like a dodge ball," you let out a quiet nervous chuckle and he gives you a small smile before leaning over you and pressing a very brief and gentle kiss on the scar. Your face flushes red and you wonder, considering how often that has happened today, maybe your face is going to end up that colour permanently. He then pulls you tightly against his chest, holding you as closely as he can,

"I promise you, I won't let anything like that ever happen to you again," he whispers with a serious tone, "I won't let anyone hurt you," you finally fully relax, feeling more at ease and safer than you have in years, believing his words completely. And for the first time in a very long time, you fall into a deep and undisturbed sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

The next morning was awkward to put it simply. Even though no-one spoke of the middle of the night wake up you gave them all. You knew it was on everyone's minds, you sat quietly during breakfast as everyone chatted about what to do during the morning before heading home, Thatch places a plate of pancakes in front of you effectively snapping you out of your thoughts. A small smile flickers across your face noting that it's set out the same way as the last time he made you some, you offer him a silent thank you which he returns with a smile before taking a seat beside you,

"Are you going to go see your Mother again before we head home?"

"Ah, yes, I'd like to. I'm not going to see her until Christmas, I know it's only a month away but..."

"But you will still miss her," he nods, "I'd like to accompany you today if that's alright with you?"

"Of course, I think my mother would like to thank you personally for bringing me,"

"Good, we'll drag the rest of my brothers along too," he ruffles your hair, "I'm sure the others will behave for an hour or two hmm," he chuckles amused looking around the lively group,

"Well, I think as long as Luffy is with us, the others shouldn't have too much trouble as long as Zoro doesn't wander off," the pair of you giggle together, laughing harder when Zoro grumbles irritated after having heard you.

So, after breakfast and cleaning up, you headed out with the boys and the others were left to make sure they were packed and ready to leave by the time you came back. Your Mother was happy to see you again and enjoyed teasing you along with the boys, confusing Luffy even more. If you were honest with yourself, you were with Luffy on this. You were confused. Last night changed things between you and Ace, but you weren't exactly sure what they had changed to. You were definitely closer, he knew now about the cause of your night terrors, he knew you more than anyone else at this point. But neither of you had spoken about it when you woke up, maybe it was because you were far too embarrassed about having fallen asleep cuddled up to him, made worse by his teasing and the fact you found his just woken up voice far too pleasing to your ears. Just thinking about it brought a blush to your face. One thing you definitely were coming away from this weekend with was the knowledge you definitely could no longer deny that you had feelings for the freckled goon. You were pretty sure everyone was aware of it too.

The journey home went much quicker, Thatch and Marco decided to just do the drive straight through with no stops, taking equal amounts of time driving since everyone had school or work the next day. You sat beside Ace who was discreetly holding your hand as the conversation flowed, jokes were made and teasing was had. Nami had questioned if Sabo and Koala were together which made the two laugh and insist, they were just good friends, Koala even adding, "He totally has a crush on this girl who works at a bookshop on the high street," which caused the blonde to turn red and his brothers want to know more details,

"At least we know you're interested in something," Nami giggled, "whereas greeny here," she jerked her thumb at Zoro who glared at her, "he said there was someone he wanted to ask to homecoming, but he ended up solo,"

"Probably because they worked that night," you piped up, all eyes had turned to you, Zoro's expression almost horrified,

"Wait, you know?" Nami had her usual gleam in her eyes, "Tell me!" Zoro had sent you a look you couldn't quite read, so you turned to Nami and simply responded,

"How much are you willing to pay for that kind of information?" You had grinned as she scoffed and nearly everyone laughed, since it's exactly the sort of thing she would have done.

You arrived home in the extreme early hours of Monday morning, school was definitely going to suck. You said your goodbyes to the others before heading inside, your Aunt gave you a hug as you got in and sent you straight to bed. As you dropped on the bed you checked your phone noting you had two new messages, one from Zoro and one from Ace. You quickly respond to Zoro's with a giggle,

_Zoro – Do you actually know?_

_(Y/N) - That you like Sakura from Double Dan's yup, you made it so obvious._

You then check over Ace's message and smile, he was just reminding you that you could call him if you had any bad dreams. With a sigh you set your phone to the side and got ready for bed. Despite everything that happened this weekend, and how confused you felt, you also felt a lot happier, and a lot calmer.

The days rolled on, and it was safe to say everyone was thankful for the short week when Thanksgiving came. You, your Uncle and Aunt spent a good portion of the day with the Newgate's, having dinner, cooked by Thatch, and playing games with the boys. To your surprise, Law was also there with Cora-san, who happened to be a friend of Thatch and Marco's, even Shanks turned up dragging a man you hadn't yet met but were introduced to by Zoro and Perona, who also came with them, as their adoptive father, Mihawk. You assisted Thatch with the clean up after dinner despite his reluctance to let you,

"You're a guest (Y/N)," he scolds playfully,

"Aww, let her if she wants to," Shanks grins from a seat at the breakfast bar,

"I don't want you backing me up," you pout at Shanks making Thatch laugh,

"Fine, I'll wash, you dry deal?"

"Deal," you grin and take one of the recently washed plates, drying it with a towel,

"Have you enjoyed yourself today?" Thatch asks,

"Yes, very much so. I'm not used to spending Thanksgiving with so many people. Usually Uncle Rayleigh and Aunt Shakky come to Sabaody and spend it with Mother and I, but this is nice," you chuckle, "so much activity, though, honestly, I'm surprised by some of the guests, I didn't realise you were so close with that one," you jerk your thumb at Shanks,

"You love me, you're just in denial," the red head winks making you gag jokingly,

"Well, we've been a pretty tight knit group since high school, the five of us that is, myself, Marco, Shanks, Rosinante and Mihawk," Thatch informs you,

"There was Musa and Bree too," Shanks tells you,

"People actually are able to put up with you, man, they have some killer patience then," you deadpan at him,

"He's basically the Luffy of our group," Marco jokes as he brings in the last of the empty dishes from the dining room,

"Then you all simply had no choice, I feel for you," you shake your head, trying to contain giggles,

"You're so mean to me," Shanks places a hand on his heart, acting hurt, "I think you should give me a hug and a kiss to make me feel better,"

"Yeah... no way pervert, I can however give you a swift kick, show my love that way?" you both grin at one another amused. "I'm curious about something, though I don't think it's my place to question the subject really," you pipe up after a while,

"Ask away darling," Shanks winks, you roll your eyes and glance out the windows to back garden where most of the guests are currently sat around a wood burner laughing and joking,

"Well, you guys aren't that old,"

"Why thank you,"

"Shanks shut up and let me finish," you scowl, "I was just wondering about the story behind those three being adopted," you nod to where Zoro, Perona and Law were handling a very hyped up Luffy,

"Normally, I would suggest you speak with Mihawk and Rosinante, but I'm sure they won't mind too much if we tell you," Thatch smiles while handing you a clean dish, "it came about because of our friend Bree, she had a child at a rather young age you see,"

"Mihawk and Rosi were both head over heels for her," Shanks inputs,

"Yes, well, her parents all but abandoned her when she had the child but we all pitched in to help, those two specifically. Bree wanted to work in childcare, and because she had those two supporting her, she could," Thatch smiles at the memory,

"She ended up working in an orphanage, at some point we've all helped out there too. That's how I met Luffy," Shanks informs you,

"So, what happened then?" you frown, the way the three of them suddenly all looked pained makes you want to drop the subject,

"Well, Bree approached Rosinante shortly after she started working, and asked if he would be willing to foster a child, that child being Law, you will have to speak with them on the details of it all," Thatch dries his hands and leans back against the sink, "there were some complications around it, of course Rosinante took Law in immediately, that guy's always had a big heart. He eventually adopted him. Mihawk with Perona and Zoro happened later. Bree was in an accident," he gives you a sad frown, "and sadly, she didn't survive. Mihawk met those two when he was assisting in clearing out her office at the orphanage, and he brought them home,"

"Not sure why exactly he did it, but it was most likely in her memory yoi, but he's become pretty fond of those two," Marco then heads outside pulling Shanks with him,

"Thank you for telling me, I'm sorry I brought bad memories up," you say to Thatch, he pats your head,

"Remembering those one has lost is necessary, it keeps them alive in our hearts. Bree would have liked you," he winks, "you're very similar to her. Now, come on, we are done here, let's go outside. A certain freckled brother of mine looks like he could use some of your pleasant company," he chuckles as you blush and puff out your cheeks. You turn to follow him outside, hoping you can get to know these people even more, your friends, and the families connected to them. You hope that happy times like this together would continue for a long time.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N - And it's finally here, I'm sorry for making you guys wait. But Should be back on track now! It's not the best chapter :/ but hopefully you like it! (My proof reader thinks its a good chapter though...)**

You watched as Luffy tore away the glittery paper and drew out a bright red scarf, "I wasn't sure what to get you guys, but I wanted to get you something," you giggle as the grinning boy wraps the scarf around his neck. You were currently stood on the boy's porch, having decided to bring around their Christmas presents before heading off the Sabaody with your Aunt and Uncle to spend the holidays with your mother.

"You're supposed to wait till Christmas idiot," Ace cuffs his brother making you chuckle,

"I don't mind, I'd prefer it if you open them now, although..." you bite your lip, "I'm not exactly creative in my gift giving since y'know..." you shrug, you had only ever exchanged gifts with Camie before now, the sound of paper tearing has all eyes turning to the eldest brothers who currently sat on the porch swing, both of them had opened their presents revealing scarfs for them too, in teal and golden yellow.

"No patience at all," comments Sabo while shaking his head,

"Don't judge, not when you're dying to open yours," Thatch grins, "thankyou (Y/N)"

"You're welcome," you smile wider then look to the last two expectantly, "I know you kind of don't need them considering..." you wait, and finally they both open their presents, also scarfs, yes, you were that creative. A brilliant orange for Ace and a deep blue for Sabo. Ace moves over to you and gives you a tight side hug,

"Thank you, it's just my colour," he winks. Before you can blush, your Uncle calls for you, thankfully, the last thing you needed was more teasing from the Newgate boys, "enjoy your Christmas with your mom,"

"Thanks, I will, and thanks for the presents guys," you hold the gift bags they had half forced on you, they were going to be added to the others from your other friends. It made you feel a little awkward but they had all insisted on giving you gifts, you worried a little that your gifts for them paled in comparison. "I better get going then, before Uncle Rayleigh starts whining," you jest and with a quick wave you hurry away. The tinkling of laughter and Ace's shouting at his brothers to shut up behind you.

The next few days blurred; you spent a lot of time catching up with Camie properly since it hadn't been possible before thanksgiving. You exchanged the usual gifts of charms for matching bracelets you had since you were little, and then came the best thing of all. Your mother got released from hospital, she was still under strict orders to take it easy, but you were so happy, being able to spend Christmas day at home with her. You both sat huddled together on the sofa late in the evening, presents all opened, you feeling spoiled. Rayleigh and Shakky had insisted on washing the dishes, well, Shakky had and pulled Rayleigh into it too. Giving you and your mother some time alone together so you could talk about things. Your mother wanted to know everything about your new friends, and even more about the Newgate boys. Teasing you about Ace and generally just wanting to know how school was going and such,

"Now that I'm out of hospital," she starts with a small smile, taking a sip of hot chocolate, "if you wanted, you could come back home," she glances at you as you freeze, "you don't need to decide right away, I'd like you to finish the school year obviously. But if you wanted to come home, the option is there."

That night you lay awake in your room, unable to sleep with the thoughts of what your mother had suggested to you. You had seen it in her eyes, the hope that you would come home. Rolling onto your side you eye you phone before sitting up and grabbing it, you hug your pillow tight to your chest and call the one person who might ease your mind,

"Everything okay?" you smile at his instant concern before hugging the pillow tighter,

"Not sure," you respond and look up at the painted ceiling, "I hope I haven't disturbed you from anything..."

"I always have time for you," Ace chuckles, you hear a door shut, "gives me a good reason to get away from the idiots,"

"Your brothers driving you mad?"

"Always," he chuckles again. You both talking about inane things for a while, over how the day has gone and the gifts you both received, you thanked him for his present to you, a red beaded bracelet. "So, what's wrong? I know you didn't just call me to listen to my wonderful manly voice," you snicker at his words then sigh,

"My mother has been released from hospital," you tell him after a pause,

"That's great," you can hear him sit up quickly, "you must be really happy about that,"

"Yeah, I am it's just..."

"Just?"

"She asked me if I wanted to come move back home," you say quietly, part of you doesn't think he has heard until he asks unsteadily,

"Do you want to move back home?" that was the question though wasn't it, did you want to? Of course, you wanted to live with your mother again, and you could clearly see that's what she wanted to, and you would die to be able to see Camie each day once more. But what about everyone else, your new friends. You didn't know how to answer, part of you did but part of you didn't and you felt terrible because of it. The sounds of crashing can be heard from Ace's end and he mutters out a curse, "sorry (Y/N) I have to go, we'll talk when you get back okay?"

"Okay," you respond then the phone line goes dead before you can say goodbye. Placing the phone down you try not to worry, you would speak to him about it all when you got back, everything would be fine.

But everything wasn't. Once Christmas and new years came and went, you were back in school and life seemed to take a downwards spike. Ace stopped getting a ride with you in the mornings, according to Sabo he was running to school earlier as a way to train up for the next match. But you started to wonder if it was something else, especially when he started to avoid you. You didn't understand why, it was like he suddenly couldn't stand to be in the same space as you. He avoided conversation, eye contact and sometimes you caught him quickly walking the other way when you saw him in the corridors at school. You wondered what you had done, and your anxiety was starting to rise rapidly forcing you to start avoiding your other friends. Especially when they questioned what was wrong.

You couldn't avoid everyone forever though. Vivi finally cornered you one day and dragged you off to the yard where you both could sit and talk, it wasn't too busy as it was the beginning of lunch and everyone was fighting for food in the cafeteria. "Talk to me (Y/N) I know somethings wrong?" she pushes while glancing around, you fiddle with a loose thread on your jumper, her hands take yours and you glance up into her concerned eyes, "is this something to do with Ace and how he's been acting?" and with that, it's like the walls you had been building tumble down and you quickly find yourself blinking back tears,

"I don't know what I did... I think he hates me,"

"Ace is an idiot, but I don't think he hates you (Y/N), I don't think it's possible for him to hate you," she gives you a soft smile and hands you a tissue, "there is most likely a reason, whatever it's a good reason though," she shrugs, "have you tried to speak to him?"

"He runs away or avoids me," you quickly wipe your eyes especially as Bonney walks by with her friends snickering,

"Problem?" Vivi snaps,

"Oooh, that's not an appropriate tone for a princess," Bonney sneers out and her friends giggle,

"Go away Bonney, no one wants to deal with you today," you half groan,

"Aww, is someone upset that a certain freckled hottie has gotten bored of them?" she teases, "I'm surprised it took this long, you're not very interesting,"

"Leave us alone," Vivi stands up, "go bother someone else with your inane crap!"

"Is that an order your highness?" Bonney steps closer to Vivi,

"Just go away," Vivi huffs, and Bonney sneers at her,

"You're not in your fancy private school now, you're down on our level, no one to come running to your rescue like the pampered princess you are, or should I say was," her tone is threatening, and you do not like it, standing up you pull Vivi away. A dark glare aimed at Bonney, "Oh, maybe you do have some help, a runt of a guard dog,"

"Say what you want about me, but back the fuck off my friend," you half growl out,

"Or what? Whatcha gonna do about it poodle? You gonna cry and run to the big boys? You're both as bad as each other, you won't do a damn thi... mother fucker!" you had punched her square in the face, you wanted her to just shut up. You could handle being picked on, hell you had most of your high school life, but something you always stood by were your friends, and if Bonney kept going, you know she would have said something more to upset Vivi. Sadly, hitting her in the face probably wasn't the best idea, especially when the pinkette came at you with her own flying fists.

It's safe to say, it wasn't pretty. You sat down outside the principal's office opening and clenching your fist, knuckles bruised and slightly bloodied. The fight hadn't lasted very long but it was nasty, you could feel a bruise forming on your cheekbone, but your hand hurt the worst,

"Sit there and don't cause any more trouble," a teacher pushes a student into the seat beside you, their body heat hits you and you glance to the side to find Ace's coal dark gaze on you as the teacher moves into the principal's office, neither of you speak for the moment, you take in the black eye and the busted lip, seems he's also been in a fight. His eyes drop down to your hand and he frowns in concern, picking it up in a gentle grip,

"What happened?" he asks softly. You blink, and then you feel something snap inside you, roaring through you with thick and hot pain, you snatch your hand away,

"Don't you dare..." you let out unsteadily, trying to reign in the rushing emotions, but seriously? He completely blanks me for weeks and now he's just going to act normal and show concern!


	22. Chapter 22

**Ace**

He stared up at the ceiling listening to her voice as she thanked him for the present he got her and completely avoided what she had clearly called him for. Even over the phone he could read her.

"So, what's wrong? I know you didn't just call me to listen to my wonderful manly voice," her small snicker makes him grin but the sigh that follows worries him,

"My Mother has been released from hospital," she says after a moment, he sits up quickly,

"That's great, you must be really happy about that,"

"Yeah, I am it's just..." he frowns as she fades off,

"Just?" he prompts to which she responds quietly,

"She asked me if I wanted to come back home," her words made him feel cold. It had never been something he had really contemplated, that she would go back to Sabaody,

"Do you want to move back home?" he didn't want to ask her that, he was afraid of how she would answer. His stomach sinks as the silence from her drags on until a crashing sound from somewhere downstairs makes him jump, he mutters out a small curse, "Sorry (Y/N) I have to go, we'll talk when you get back okay?" he ends the call before she can respond and then just stares at the phone. "God I'm an idiot, of course she will want to go back home," he lets out an annoyed growl and slumps back, "why would she stay here..." he swallows a hard lump in his throat as dark thoughts swirl around his head, "it's not like a fuck up's kid like me could turn around and ask her to stay." Annoyed with himself and everything he throws the phone across the room, not caring when he hears it crack against the wall. Just turns on his side and curls up while silently berating himself.

By the time (Y/N) was back, he had worked himself into such a state he couldn't face her. He made excuses not to see her and once back at school he even started running to school, telling Sabo it was for training for the next match. He also started avoiding her whenever possible, it was harder in the classes they shared, but he would purposefully pretend to be asleep. He knew he was being a jerk, but every time he found himself wanting to talk to her, which was more often than he realised, he would just feel pain, she would only move back to Sabaody at the end of the year, she was going to leave. He didn't deserve to ask her to stay.

The others started to notice things were off, especially when (Y/N) started to avoid them. He even had Kid question it during practice one day but Ace simply shrugged it off, that earnt him a hard punch to the arm from the red head. A couple of weeks in and he stopped sitting with everyone at lunch, the questions got too much and it just made him feel worse. Chewing on some dried beef he sits on the grassy field that's used for football practice and other sports, wallowing in his own self-pity and watching the track guys running around when someone kicks his foot, looking up he finds Shachi, raising a brow Ace glances around finding his usual two companions nowhere to be seen.

"You're an absolute asshole you know that," Shachi scowls out at him, Ace just huffs and gets to his feet, "And an idiot,"

"Lay off man," Ace starts walking away,

"Do you have any idea what your attitude is doing to her?" Shachi snaps while following him,

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No, you're fucking her up and you don't give a shit, do you even care how much she's hurting?"

"Of course, I fucking care," Ace scowls spinning to face him, "but what's the point!" Smack! Ace stumbles back and stares at Shachi in shock as pain registers and his tastes blood, Shachi had actually hit him,

"Ohhh, that one looked like it hurt," a voice laughs nearby, "lovers quarrel?" both boys turn to see Grant with a few others, "You guys make great entertainment," he grins, "I'm really curious though, would the subject of your little tiff be our mutual, friend?" Ace's gaze hardens and he clenches his fists, "she shown her true colours yet? She's pretty messed up," he laughs again, "I can't help but notice you haven't been around little (Y/N) for the past couple of weeks... maybe she needs an old friend to keep her company, I haven't been able to hang out with her properly since Sabaody," he grins, "we had SOOO much fun after the finals game last year," Ace saw red at that. He wasn't sure exactly what he did after but Shachi had to pull him away from pummelling Grant's face,

"As much as I'm really pissed at you right now, and as much as I'd also love to let you keep hitting him, you're doing serious damage," Shachi keeps him held back as a teacher comes running over, "calm the fuck down before you do something worse and get yourself expelled."

Soon after, the teacher had Grant's friends escort him to the nurse's office while he dragged Ace to the principal's office. Ace noted the look on Shachi's face that clearly said their previous conversation wasn't over.

"Sit there and don't cause any more trouble," a teacher pushes him into a seat while heading into the principal's office. Glancing to the side he meets (Y/N)'s gaze and freezes, her (e/c) eyes looked dull and had deep shadows under them as if she hadn't slept properly in days, there was also a bruise forming on her cheek. Frowning in concern he drops his gaze to her hand, noticing the bruised and blooded knuckles and picks up her hand in a gentle grip,

"What happened?" he asks softly. She blinks at him before going tense and snatching her hand away,

"Don't you dare..." she hisses out unsteadily. Snapping his gaze back to her face his heart sinks. Tears threaten to fall down her face as she looks at him angry and heart broken, "Don't you dare act concerned after how you've been," she gulps, clearly trying to reign in her emotions, "you've done nothing be avoid me for weeks! And now you have to gall to act worried, to act like you care,"

"(Y/N) I do..."

"No!" she snaps and pokes him hard in the chest, "People who care don't pretend the other doesn't exist. They don't abandon them," she now hunches over, covering her face as the tears overflow, "you promised Ace, you promised you'd always be there, but you broke that." He could only stare at her as her words slammed into him, she was right, he had promised and like the idiot jerk he is he broke that, broke her trust in him.

Moments later both the teacher that had brought him here and the principle exit the office, (Y/N) is sent to the nurse's office after being told her uncle is on his way to pick her up. He watched her go, clenching his hands, he was the absolute worst, in trying to avoid his own pain and self-pity he had only hurt her more.


	23. Chapter 23

Things changed again, though they weren't anywhere near better. Ace didn't full on ignore you now but that didn't mean he spoke to you either. He always had this pained guilty look on his face that just made you feel pitiful. It was tense between you both, enough that even Luffy, the ever-oblivious boy, had realised something serious was up. You tried to pass it off as nothing, even going so far as to use the upcoming football game as an excuse. He bought it, at least you think he did.

Vivi, Shachi and Kid had taken it upon themselves to make sure you were eating lunch, especially when it became apparent you hadn't been eating with anyone the past few days and it was Law's idea that you should be watched. So, lunch times had now been split between sitting on the roof with Kid and his friends, who had you forgetting how terrible you were feeling by encouraging you to torment Kid, and other times you now sat with Law, Shachi and Penguin, Vivi would join you on occasion and had managed to make excuses to the others. It wasn't the best, you could see your friends were confused, and you really wished things could go back to normal but they couldn't. You simply didn't understand what was going through Ace's head right now, and you weren't sure you wanted to. It still hurt that he had broken the promise he made, it still hurt that you had let yourself open up to someone only to be pushed aside with no explanation. You scowl to yourself as the thoughts roll through your mind once again only to be jerked back to reality as someone flicks you on the head, you look up to find Shachi was the culprit,

"You were lost to us there for a moment,"

"It's starting to get painful watching you think so hard," Penguin notes,

"Sorry," you cringe, "Just, a lot on my mind,"

"You can talk to us about it if you want you know," Vivi huffs beside you, you smile thankfully at her but say nothing. They continue the conversation they were having before pulling you out of your thoughts, while you found Law watching you. You raise a brow at him and he just returns it. You know what he's after you doing, talking, he keeps subtly not so subtly reminding you it's better to talk about your problems rather than withhold them. But you had talked and look where it got you! His gaze turns steely and you sigh in defeat. Dropping your gaze to your half-eaten lunch you take a steadying breath,

"So, my mom asked me to move back home," the silence from them is instant, you peek up to see they're all shocked, before Shachi half rises out of his seat,

"No, you gotta stay," it sounded a little whiney, Penguin kicks his leg,

"Sit down you moron, it's not your decision."

"Your mother has been released from hospital then?" Law enquires as his two friends start swatting each other,

"Yeah, back at Christmas," you lean back in your seat, "she asked me if I'd like to move back home,"

"Do you want to move back home?" Vivi's word echo the very same question Ace had and you frown down and clench your hands together,

"I, don't know," you say after a moment, all eyes back to you, "I mean, it's home right, it's my mom, I should want to go back, to live with her, right?" you look between them all, half begging for an answer,

"It's not a bad thing if you don't want to (Y/N)-ya," Law says softly, "she asked if you wanted to, which means you have a choice,"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you decided you wanted to continue staying here," Vivi wraps an arm around your shoulders, "what does your uncle say?"

"He said this is my home as long as I want it to be," you sigh and lean against your friend, "I just don't know what to do, I don't want to upset my mom but..."

"But you might want to stay?" Shachi asks hopefully,

"Maybe? I don't know, I haven't decided yet," you bite your lip and glance over at the table where your other friends are,

"(Y/N), have you told Ace about this?" Vivi asks carefully, getting glares from Shachi and Penguin, Law leans back, he was glad she had asked because otherwise he was going to and he wasn't in the mood for a lecture off his friends,

"Yeah... he was the first I told," you fiddle with a string on your jumper, "he said we would talk more about it when I got back, but we never did," you bite your lip harder,

"I see, so that's how it is," Vivi looks thoughtful,

"How what is?" you frown, looking between them, seeing they all looked like they suddenly understood something you didn't,

"Leave it to me," she gives you a smile,

"Leave what to you?" you were so very confused, sadly you didn't get to push for an answer because Luffy suddenly jumped on your back, nearly knocking you off your seat to the floor,

"(Y/N)!" he yells down your ear,

"Luffy," you ground out through clenched teeth and hit him on the head, "don't do that," you scowl and rub your ear,

"Shishishi," he chuckles, "Sorry," he hugs you tightly,

"You're very pumped up today Luffy," Vivi giggles,

"Yup, I'm getting to play in the next game," he grins wide then looks at you with wide eyes, "You'll come watch right (Y/N)?"

"Your basketball game?"

"Yeah!" he nods enthusiastically,

"Yeah you should go, we can go together since we watch Law," Shachi encourages,

"It'll be fun, come on," Penguin joins in, all three of them giving you the puppy dog eyes,

"How am I supposed to refuse those looks," you sigh and shake your head,

"It's your own fault you have a weakness for dogs," Law comments gaining scowls from his friends,

"So, you'll come? Yes! Awesome, I'm gonna go tell Zoro!" and Luffy runs off before actually gaining an answer,

"Guess I'm going to a basketball game then," you actually laugh.

The game was only a couple of days later, Luffy made a fool of himself waving at you as he came onto the court. You got hounded by hugs from your other friends who had come to watch in support of Luffy's first game too, you noted Ace wasn't there, most likely he had too much prep for his own game which would be tomorrow night. At one-point Sabo pulled you into a hug,

"Sorry my brother is an idiot," he says in your ear,

"Which one?" you ask amused gaining a grin from him,

"(Y/N) you're going to the game, tomorrow right?" Koala asks joining in the hug,

"The football game... I wasn't really planning to..." football games unnerved you because of the past, you had managed the homecoming game somehow but things were different now,

"You don't have to go," Sabo says,

"Shush you," Koala shoves her best friend away by pushing on his face and then making you face her fully, "You need to come,"

"I don't know Koala..."

"I know Ace has been a dick, he's a true idiot, but you have to come, it's not just him playing after all," she looks at you pointedly,

"I'll think about it,"

"No, I need you to come, please (Y/N)?" she pleads, you frown, why was she being so pushy about it,

"You should check it out, clearly they're up to something," Shachi says from your other side, you glance to him and he nods, "we'll have your back," great even he was for it too. You let out a grumbled sigh,

"Fine, but I have the right to leave at any point," you point out, it makes Koala pout,

"Don't push her Koala," Sabo admonishes,

"Fine, as long as you come," she now gives you a dazzling smile, hugs you again then turns back to the game, all in time to see Luffy scoring the winning shot.

You felt sick with nerves the next day, you played with your breakfast making your Uncle frown before putting his paper down, "So, have you had a thought on whatever you want to stay?" you glance up at him, "And please stop, you've killed it, those pancakes are an inedible mush now," he pulls your plate away and pours you a cup of coffee,

"Sorry, guess I'm a little..." you pull a face,

"Take your time, it's okay to be nervous about going to the game, you went through a traumatic event kiddo, it's no surprise it would trigger anxiety, you don't have to go,"

"Tell that to Koala, she was really insistent I go," you sigh and sip your coffee,

"Maybe it's to do with the boy," your uncle had started calling Ace, the boy, it made you chuckle a little. You hadn't told him what had happened, hell you weren't sure how to explain it all, but he seemed to understand non the less. "He better apologise, and don't you forgive him unless he's grovelling on his knees,"

"Uncle..." you shake your head, "I doubt it has anything to do with Ace," he just scoffs and takes a gulp of his coffee,

"Anyhow, back to my previous point, I figured you've probably been stressing over it, and so I spoke to your mother," you frown at him, "I can read you like a book (Y/N),"

"Only book he can," Shakky perks up as she comes into the kitchen to grab herself a coffee to go before heading off for work,

"Very funny," Rayleigh scowls as you giggle, "getting back to the point again," he grumbles a little, "Your mother still needs to be taking it easy, she can't be going back to that stressful job at the park. They put too much on her," he points out, "So I suggested she move up here, stay here for a while and maybe look for a place for you two this way," he sips his coffee again as your eyes widen, "that way, you get to live with your mother and stay here," he pauses, "I can't do anything about your friend Camie, but I'm sure she will come visit, plus nothing stopping you visiting Saboady in the holidays," he grunts as you slam into him, hugging him hard, "I know, I'm just that great,"

"Thank you, I didn't want to leave but,"

"You didn't want to leave your mother, I know," he ruffles your hair, "go on kiddo, you need to get ready." Grinning you race upstairs, feeling ecstatic. As you get ready you glance out the window, spotting Thatch rushing a clearly late Ace to the car, you guess he overslept. Ace glances up at your window and you duck behind the curtain, when you look again, they're gone. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.

"Maybe I should try talking to him... if he has an explanation," you glance around your room, you had really made it your own. Painting the walls, even the ceiling and gathering various knickknacks, one wall was filled with photographs of you and your friends, and hung on the back of the door, Ace's jacket. This was home.


	24. Chapter 24

**Ace**

Luffy was mad at him. He had been refusing to talk to Ace for the past few days, every time Ace tried to talk to his younger brother the boy just stared hard at him and would repeat the same words, "Fix it," before walking away. He knew exactly what Luffy wanted and he wished he could do just that but he doesn't know how. Slumping against the breakfast bar he groans to himself, not only had he upset you, but he had upset one of the few people who didn't give a shit about who his parents were. Luffy had been calling Ace his brother since the day Garp left them together, and as much as Ace couldn't stand it at first. He had come to see just how loyal, and stubborn the energetic boy was. If it wasn't for Luffy and Sabo, Ace probably would be a hell of a lot worse now.

"You're an idiot," said blondes voice penetrates his thoughts as he walks to the fridge to get a soda, looking up to the blonde he pouts,

"I think that's been established since you tell me every day," Ace grumbles, Thatch glances over from where he's sat at the dining table with Marco going through some plans. They were looking for a place to potentially open up a bar,

"You're not exactly helping your case though," the eldest Newgate sibling comments,

"It's not that simple," Ace puffs out his cheeks, "you don't understand,"

"Maybe if you explained, we could actually help," Sabo scowls, Koala slips onto the stool beside Ace's

"Can I ask you a question Ace?" she asks,

"You just did," he responds, she smiles and narrows her eyes, with a small gulp he nods, "Ask away,"

"Is this all because (Y/N) might move back home?" all eyes snap to her, a crashing sound from the hallway announces that Luffy also heard that, he slams into the kitchen,

"(Y/N)'s moving away?!" he demands to know,

"Her mom asked if she wants to," Ace grumbles, "how do you know?" he looks pointedly at Koala,

"Vivi told me, Sabo stop him," she points out where Luffy has dashed off, clearly off to see (Y/N). He gets dragged back by Sabo. "She told Vivi during lunch, and Vivi came to me, we both agreed that it is probably the cause of whatever is going on between you both," she raises her brow and he just huffs, "Why didn't you tell her you don't want her to go back?"

"It's not that simple," Ace scowls,

"Why isn't it?" Sabo shoves Luffy into a chair by Marco, "what's stopping you from..." he then glares hard at Ace, "Please do not tell me it's because of your father,"

"What if it is..." Ace jumps off his stool, all intents of going to his room when everyone in the room groans,

"You really are an idiot," Thatch shakes his head, "How many times have we told you, it doesn't matter who your father is, we are your family, we love you for who you are,"

"And I bet," Marco leans back, "(Y/N) will be of the same mind yoi,"

"You don't know that," Ace looks away from them, "let's just drop it, if she wants to go back to Sabaody, then she can, I don't have the right to ask..." he's suddenly shoved by Sabo,

"You haven't even asked her, you don't even know if she wants to go,"

"I did ask if she wanted to, she didn't respond," he scowls and pushes him back,

"And you just assumed, because you're an idiot, and because you got it into your head this bullshit about who your father was," Sabo shoves him again, Ace starts to get annoyed and sparks fly off him, but before anything further can happen, Koala steps between the pair,

"Ace, you have to talk to (Y/N), you need to tell her how you feel. She has insecurities too, right?" Ace looks down into Koala's face and nods slowly, "Then talk to her, she's probably very confused and I'm sure if you tell her exactly why you've been acting like an ass, she will understand,"

"How..." all the fight leaves him, "how am I supposed to talk to her... she hates me right now,"

"She doesn't hate you silly," she chuckles, "talk to her after your match, I'll get her there don't you worry,"

"Koala..." Sabo isn't sure about this,

"You agreed with me that they need to talk,"

"Yeah but..."

"No but's, he'll have one chance," she looks back to Ace, "Right," Ace nods, "Good boy. Don't let us down now." That is easier said than done though.

The night before the match he tossed and turned all night. Nervous not for the game, but about talking to (Y/N). He fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, so naturally he overslept. Thatch woke him yelling at him to move his ass. Tripping and stumbling he changed into what he hoped were clean clothes, grabbed his kit and ran out the house, "I swear you sleep like the dead," Thatch sighs, Ace ignores it though, too tired to snap back. His gaze travels over to (Y/N)'s window where he could swear, he sees her curtains move, shaking his head thinking he's probably still half asleep he gets into the car. Koala had promised (Y/N) was going to come to the game, but he couldn't help but think that maybe she wouldn't. He wouldn't blame her either, considering her past and especially with who they were up against today, The Sabaody Fishmen, her old schools' team. He decides though, if she doesn't come, he'll just go to hers after and beg her to listen to him. "Relax," Thatch glances at him, "it'll all work out,"

"I hope so," Ace slumps in the seat,

"You really like her huh?" his brother chuckles,

"Yeah, I do..."

"Then focus on that, focus on those feelings and not the bad ones," Thatch suggests as he pulls up at the school, "now get out and go get ready, I have to go back for the others,"

"Thanks Thatch,"

"Anytime."

Ace hurries out. He got in a bit of trouble for being late and Kid gave him hell for it, but he was going to stay positive. He quickly got ready and headed out onto the field to warmup. Once warmups were done the coach called them over to huddle, so they could discuss the first play. As he walked over, he glanced up at the stands, gaze darting over the usual place his friends would sit. He stumbles a little when he spots (Y/N), she seems to have just arrived with Vivi, Zoro and Usopp, she's paused as she makes her way to a seat, eyes meeting his for a moment. She gives him a very small acknowledging smile before hurrying to follow the others.

"Move it Ace, we don't have all day!" the coach yells over at him. Ace runs the rest of the way, heart thudding hard in his chest. She was wearing his jacket. That was a good sign, right? He hoped it was. It gave him a small boost of confidence and he was able to completely focus on the game.

The game was going well, they were winning with a hefty lead by half time and Ace was starting to get jittery, he wanted the game to be over already. He wanted to talk to (Y/N). It took everything he had to listen to the coach's next game plan for the second half, and he jumped up quickly to head out onto the field. As They filed onto the field with the other team, a conversation tugged at his ears,

"I'm telling you she goes to this school and Damien is up to something, my girl just messaged me saying him and his friends were lurking in the hallways,"

"He's under a warning, especially after being involved with that incident last year, I doubt he'd try something,"

"But what if he's going after her again?" Ace froze in place, Killer bumping into his back,

"I doubt this is the school she came to,"

"Let's ask then," the player looks around and meets Ace and Killer's gaze, "hey, quick question, does a (Y/N) (L/N) go to this school?" Ace feels cold, his throat closes up, Killer glances at him then back to the other player and nods,

"Yeah, she's a friend of ours,"

"See I told you," he slaps his team mates arm, the other guys cringes,

"That doesn't mean Damien will..."

"Damien's a sick fuck of course he would," Ace had heard enough, he dashes out onto the field and scans the stands, eyes landing on the area his friends sit, finding it mostly empty, the only ones there now are Usopp, Chopper and Nami, Nami holding Luffy's signature straw hat, their expressions send him running back inside, ignoring the coach's yell to get back on the field. He throws his helmet to the side, pulls his jersey off followed by the pads. He meets a worried looking Vivi and Robin at the exit, Robin has Grant pinned down with her devil fruit ability and Vivi quickly informs Ace that (Y/N) had been chased out of school. He wasted no time, he didn't know if he was going the right way, but he was going to follow his gut and hope it led him to her before he was too late. He wasn't going to break another promise.


	25. Chapter 25

Your heart was racing as you followed the others into the stands, your gaze flicking over the field as players were finishing with warm ups, you barely registered the familiar uniforms of the away team as your feet grind to a halt upon meeting Ace's coal black eyes. Now your heartbeat thudded loudly in your ears and you subconsciously pull the jacket tighter around yourself. You manage to give him a small smile before hurrying to take a seat beside Vivi, she takes your hand and squeezes it. Earlier when you picked her up, she had approved of you wearing Ace's jacket and you had smiled, but then Zoro, who you had also picked up, commented on how it made you look like Ace's girlfriend. Embarrassed you had revealed his crush to Vivi and Usopp, funny thing was, the two of them had already figured it out. You wonder now, what Ace thought of you wearing it,

"(Y/N)?" Vivi shakes you out of your thoughts, "Are you going to be okay?" you frown a little confused exactly why she's asking you that, "they're playing against your old school," she nods over to the field and your eyes sweep over the field until you spot them, The Sabaody Fishmen. You take in a shuddering breath,

"I'll be okay," you mutter, she squeezes your hand again,

"We'll stick together okay?" you give her a thankful smile, she wasn't aware of the details of the incident that happened, only Ace was, but she knew something had happened and she knew of your fear of Grant. You managed to relax though as your friends slowly filed in, the rest of the Newgate boys arrived just before the game started, squeezing in beside you, Thatch eyed your jacket then flashed you a big grin before nudging Marco and getting him to look, they both then grinned at one another. You gave them a disapproving look, all the while blushing to the roots of your hair before focusing on the game.

You had to admit, you were starting to understand why Camie loved this sport, you were enjoying yourself, much more than last time and were really getting into it, cheering on your team with the rest of your friends. By the time half time came, you were completely at ease, if a little leg jittery about talking to Ace later. Vivi drags you off to the toilets with her and you had to admit you really needed it too. Between Sanji and Thatch, you had been supplied with enough food and drinks to last days never mind just the game. As the pair of you left to return to the others, Vivi's phone went off and when she looked at it, she turned bright red, "What is he doing calling me..." you glance at her phone,

"Koza," you read the name flashing on her screen, "who's that?"

"Just an old friend," her gaze hasn't left the phone, "I haven't spoken to them since changing schools..."

"So, talk to him," you nudge her, "I'll tell the others you will be back soon okay," she gapes at you for a moment before smiling thankfully and answering the phone nervously. It was cute. Smiling you make your way back towards the stands entrance.

But then your stopped. Feet stumbling to a halt as your way is blocked by a group of familiar faces, of course they would come, any excuse to come and cause your life hell! Grant grins at you,

"I thought I'd invite them, Pirates verses Fishmen, y'know, and all the fun that comes with it," your gaze roams over the group, a large group, a group of individuals you hadn't seen all together since the last time both schools played off against each other. You try to keep calm even as you feel your blood go cold and your heart stutter in panic,

"I, hope you enjoy the game," you manage to wheeze out,

"Oh no, we're not here for the game pet, at least not the one on the field," Damien's smile grows as dread runs thick through you, "we came here for you, we want to finish the game we started last time," his friends all laugh and giggle as you take a step backwards, away from them, "Yes, that's it (Y/N), run for me, let us chase you. After all, that's all part of the fun!" and you do. You spin around and bolt. The heavy slap of their footfalls behind you sending chills of fear down your spine. You try to focus your breathing, stay from panicking to hard. Trying to get your phone out of your pocket as you slam the doors to the carpark open. You end up bolting past your car, knowing they would have gotten you before you had a chance to get in it. You let out a strangled cry of triumph as you get your phone free and dial the first contact you know can actually answer, Franky. You don't even remember when you got his number, maybe Robin put it in when she put hers in. You start to worry when it keeps ringing but let out a breath as he finally answers,

"Where you at girly, the game is about to start back up and we are SUPER in the lead!"

"Franky, I need help,"

"What's wrong?" you blink, that's not Franky's voice,

"Thatch?" you glance behind you and yelp, they are close, cackling like hyenas, "I... I need help Thatch; they're going to hurt me..."

"Keep your phone on, we're coming," you could hear him organising your friends. Your heart pounded, you should have told more people, maybe if you had you wouldn't be in this situation. Thatch kept encouraging you as you ran. But eventually, your running became unsteady, you trip and take a tumble, your phone flying out of your grasp and skidding along the road,

"Crap..." your quickly roll over knowing they are about to grab you when your vision is blinded with bright blues and yellows. Blinking to regain your vision you look up to find Marco in front of you and gape, his arms are wings of blue and yellow flames, "Marco..."

"Start running back for the school yoi," he orders you, "I'll break up the pack here, look for the others," you didn't need telling twice, you jumped back to your feet, phone forgotten you dash off as the flames blaze high from Marco, you needed to find out just how many of those brothers has a devil fruit power. You shake the thought away and keep running. Knowing your still being followed as some got away from Marco. You had to take a long way back towards the school, passing by some of your friends as you went, they would step between you and your chasers each time and encourage you to keep running, but then your luck ran out. You stumble to a stop in a small alleyway. Finding a dead end, you had been so sure you could get through here to the school, you could see the lights from the school field, but the wall in your way was too tall for you to even attempt to climb. You would have to backtrack; you spin around and scramble to a halt once again,

"You're a pretty fast runner, faster than you used to be," Damien notes slowly moving towards, you move backwards until your back hits the wall, "nowhere to run now though," he chuckles, "you know, I got into a lot of trouble last time because of you,"

"Good, you deserved it," you grit out,

"Is that anyway to talk to me," Damien scowls pulling a gun from the back of his waistband, you blank, of course he somehow still had it. He raises it and grins, "I think it's time I finished what I started, what do you think?" you don't get a chance to answer, hell he doesn't get a chance to wait for an answer as he's having to dodge back fast as what you can only describe as a fire ball hits the spot he had been standing in and then Ace is in front of you, his hands gripping your shoulders. He had jumped over the wall, he had come for you,

"Are you okay?" you look up into his eyes, noting the fear and concern in those dark orbs, tears sting your eyes, "don't worry, it's all going to be okay," he glances behind him at Damien, are dark thunderous glare on his face as that gun is raised again,

"You know, I really hate when someone gets in my way. (Y/N) you know what happens to those who get in my way right?" he smiles sadistically as he moves that gun to aim at Ace, Ace quickly shoves you to the side, you land on your hands and knees letting out a scream as the gun goes off three times. All three shots hitting Ace,

"Ace!" your heart is in your throat; it feels almost as if time has stopped. Then flames flicker over Ace's form,

"What the hell..." Damien frowns, then growls and fires the gun three more times, each bullet hitting Ace again and going straight through him to slam into the wall behind him,

"Man, you really need to do your research. Someone like you can't do shit against me," half of Ace's body flares and flickers, as if his form is made up of fire, "You're going to have to try harder than that to make anything hit a logia type," he then starts walking towards Damien, "I should burn you to a crisp, but I'm not about to add more trauma to what (Y/N) already has because of you, so I'll give you one chance, you leave now and you never bother (Y/N) again, she's one of us, under our protection, and when I say us, I don't mean the Pirates, I mean Newgate, I mean Whitebeard, so unless you want to be running for the rest of your life," he nods towards the exit of the alley, "get lost," something about what Ace said put fear into Damien's eyes. The boy you had feared for most of your high school life suddenly turns tail and runs. Once he's out of sight Ace turns to you, "You okay? You're not hurt anywhere are you?" you scramble to your feet and run the short distance over to him, checking over him, but there's no bullet wounds, "physical attacks like that don't work on me, I'm okay, not a scratch ow, you don't have to hit me though," he makes a grab for your wailing fists, "(Y/N) stop please,"

"I was so scared!" you yell at him, "I thought he was going to kill you!" and you of course burst out crying, still trying to hit him,

"(Y/N) please!" he manages to get a hold of your hands and pulls them against his chest, "I'm sorry," he then adds softly, you look up at him through teary eyes and he wipes away those tears while keeping your hands secured by one of his. "I'm sorry I've been an absolute ass, I'm sorry I broke the promise to always be there for you, I'm sorry I scared you..." you could see his own hurt and fear in those coal black eyes,

"Ace..." you half whimper out through your crying, the next moment he's pulled you closer. His lips pressing against yours. Your eyes widen in shock and for a brief moment, you're not sure what to do. Your mind screaming at the fact he's kissing you. He's actually kissing you. And, you feel yourself melt into it, all previous fear and anxiety slipping away as you return that kiss. You don't know how long the kiss lasted; it could have been for a few seconds yet it felt so much longer, but eventually you both needed to breathe. He rests his forehead against yours,

"I don't want you to go back to Sabaody..." he whispers the words out and they make your heart thud hard in your chest, "but I have no right to ask you to stay,"

"Why wouldn't you?" you whisper back,

"Because I'm no good," he closes his eyes and a shudder runs through him, "I'm the child of a monster (Y/N) and you deserve so much better," you frown,

"Are you talking about your biological father?" you ask, it takes a moment but he opens his eyes again and nods, your frown deepens,

"You do realise that that means nothing right?" now it's his turn to frown, "blood only goes so far, you were raised by Pops, you're a Newgate," you then shake your head, "Plus, I know Roger's kind of made a bad name for himself, but from the stories my Mom and Uncle tell me, he wasn't that bad of a person," you watch him process this,

"You knew who my father was already?" you guessed he had tried to cover it up for years, specially taking his mother's name,

"Ace..." you shake your head, "I've always known, my uncle was his best friend you moron," Ace then groans and drops his head onto your shoulder, "Luffy mentioned a while ago you had issues regarding Roger's but I didn't realise it was like this,"

"I'm sorry,"

"Shut up, stop saying sorry." You take a step back from him, "You're just going to have to work for forgiveness," you offer him a smile which he finally returns.

"We should get you back to the school, the others will be worried," he releases your hands so that you can walk side by side, "and I have to prepare for a lecture from coach,"

"Wait, the game, the second half," you jerk your gaze to him, "did you run out?"

"Yes, of course I did. I told you, I wouldn't let anything happen to you again. I'd already broken one promise, I didn't want to break another one and lose you forever," he takes your hand and you continue walking,

"Thank you Ace," he simply squeezes your hand, "Ace, I'm not moving back to Sabaody," he stumbles to a stop and looks at you, you can't help but let out a small giggle, "Rayleigh discussed things with my mom, she's gonna move here instead,"

"So, you're staying?"

"Yeah, I wanted to, but I was just torn because I didn't want to hurt my mom... Ace put me down!" you squeal at the end because he's picked you up and spun you around,

"I can't, I'm too happy right now," he spins you again before pulling you against him and kissing you again, "I want to make you mine," his words and actions make you flush red,

"Let's take one step at a time yeah, I'm gonna make you work for forgiveness first," you both share a smile, "but if it helps, you're halfway there already."

Together you walk back to school, where the police are herding your chasers into cars after being corralled by your friends. Said friends were instantly surrounding you, some crying and some cheering, all trying to hug you. You were crying again, but this time, from the feelings of happiness and feeling safe. This here, with all your friends, with Ace, this was your true home.

The End.

Or is it?


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

The pair of you stared at the blonde, Ace had his arm wrapped over your shoulders as the two of you silently judged his brother. When Sabo had asked you if you could take him to the book store after school, you expected it to be for actual books. And although he was claiming he needed some new books you and Ace were starting to doubt it was just that. You let your gaze slide over to the current object or should you say person of his interest, you nudge Ace,

"I think I know why he specifically asked to go today, I think it was to avoid Koala coming,"

"Oh, what makes you say that?" Ace perks up an eyebrow, you smile noting how Sabo has tensed up and purposefully started looking at the books on the shelves in front of him,

"Remember, she mentioned him having a crush on a girl who worked in a book shop," you share a grin with the ravenette,

"You're right," Ace nods and snickers before glancing over at the girl at the checkout who's currently putting price labels on new books, "so..."

"Stop putting too much thought on what Koala said," Sabo huffs, "she was talking nonsense, I'm here simply for books," he says pulling a book of the shelf,

"Oh, didn't realise you wanted to know about 'The miracle of childbirth' Sabo?" you giggle reading off the title of the book he picked up, he quickly slams it back on the shelf, face turning red, "Why don't you just go talk to her?"

"I can't just walk over for no reason," Sabo shakes his head in defeat, it was useless to deny it against you two now,

"Sure you can. Just walk up and say, hey cutie, can I have your number?" Ace suggests while chuckling, that earns him a scowl from his brother,

"She's not going to bite Sabo," you glance over at the girl again, she's started putting the new books away, "she's a pretty shy girl but she's sweet,"

"You know her?" both boys ask simultaneously,

"Yeah," you shrug, "she's Law's cousin, I don't know everything but she's recently moved in with them, she also goes to Red Line Academy, she played off against Vivi in the tennis tournaments this summer," all three of you were looking at the girl now. The store owner had just stormed over to her and was beginning to shout at her, something about putting the books in the wrong place. You frown, "what a jerk," you mutter, feeling Ace nod in agreement. Suddenly Sabo is moving towards them. He steps between the girl and her boss as the man clearly raises his hand to strike her,

"Holy crap," Ace gasps out,

"Sir, you are aware that what you were about to do violates work place ethics and can be used against you in a court of law should she decide to report you for the abuse," You blink, way to go Sabo, the store owner scowls down at Sabo, "plus, before you try to intimidate the young lady, please note there are three witnesses to what you were just about to do, and we would all be willing to give our side of the incident,"

"I wasn't about to do shit, get the hell out of my shop. How I handle my staff is of no concern to you,"

"No, but it should be of concern to you, because as civilians we have to right to report anything of concern to the authorities and have you checked out. Out of concern to the general public," Sabo smiles calmly and politely, even as the shop owners face turns red with anger,

"And I reserve the right to refuse service to you, get out, you and your friends, you're not welcome here, and you!" he jabs a finger at the girl, "You're done, I don't need useless, time wasting, troublesome staff like you, get your stuff and leave."

A few moments later the four of you are outside, receiving glares from the owner through the windows,

"I'm so sorry, I didn't quite expect that outcome," Sabo apologises,

"It's... it's okay, you were trying to help," she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "it was only a matter of time," she sighs, glancing up at Sabo, blushing lightly and looking away. Ace rests his chin on your shoulder,

"Do you want a lift home?" he asks, you dig your elbow in his gut, you didn't mind giving her a lift but the offer should come from you, the driver, not the driver's boyfriend.

"Oh, no, it's okay. My cousin said he would pick me up after work..." she then frowns,

"When were you supposed to finish work?" Sabo enquires, but you would bet money he already knew,

"Ten..." she cringes a little, it was six now,

"Come on, let us get you home, it's on our way back. Just text Law and let him know, otherwise he will just be whiney," you chuckle, she looks at you and seems to be preparing to say no, "you would be doing me a favour by saying yes, because captain sarcasm will be just as whiney with me if he finds out we didn't try to take you home," that brings a small amused smile to her face,

"Okay, thank you," she responds shyly,

"It's not a problem, you can sit in the front with me, these two can take the back," you snigger as you see Ace's playful pout and lead the way to your car. Grinning as Sabo strikes up a conversation with the girl,

"So, we're gonna tell my brothers and tease him like hell when we get back right?" Ace asks you quietly,

"Oh definitely," you giggle.

To be continued...

In

Spiced Honey

A Sabo x Reader Story


End file.
